What is turbulence?

What is turbulence? Irregular or disturbed airflow in the atmosphere. There are several categories, as well as subcategories. Airline passengers are most likely to encounter the low-level variety, in or near thunderstorms. But additional factors can create unstable conditions, including jet streams, heat, other aircraft and mountains. And pilots, airline dispatchers and air traffic controllers particularly fear clear-air turbulence (CAT), since it is difficult to detect by sight or even via radar.

Global changes in climate are expected to result in bumpier flights, at the least, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A paper published last year by two British environmental scientists concluded that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases both the strength and frequency of CAT: “Our results suggest that climate change will lead to bumpier transatlantic flights by the middle of this century. Journey times may lengthen, and fuel consumption and emissions may increase. Aviation is partly responsible for changing the climate, but our findings show for the first time how climate change could affect aviation.” As an FAA-licensed dispatcher who worked in airline flight operations, I also talked to several dispatchers who confirmed that turbulence incidents seem to be on the increase.

A 2011 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration underscores the dangers: “As winds become stronger aloft, mountain wave turbulence will develop more often and may cause significant damage to the structure of aircraft and result in loss of control.” Flying at higher altitudes isn’t always an easy fix: Two-thirds of turbulence-related accidents occur at or above 30,000 feet, the FAA says.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, in-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to airline passengers and flight attendants in nonfatal accidents. Every year as many as 58 people in the U.S. are injured while not wearing seat belts. From 1980 through 2008, U.S. airlines reported 234 turbulence events severe enough to be categorized as accidents, resulting in 298 serious injuries and three fatalities. Another 147 injuries happened between 2009 and 2011. Says the FAA: “At least two of the three fatalities involved passengers who were not wearing their seat belts while the seat belt sign was illuminated.”

- a state or condition of confusion, movement, or agitation; disorder

countercurrent, crosscurrent, riptide, tide rip, rip - a stretch of turbulent water in a river or the sea caused by one current flowing into or across another current
physical phenomenon - a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy

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