Andoo From United States, joined Feb 2005, 36 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 920 times:
as I was flying into ORD yesterday morning (4/3) and we encountered some moderate turbulence, at best, a question came to mind. I once had heard someone explain "severe turbulence" as "turbulence violent enough to where pilots lose control of the aircraft". If this is the case, and it very well may not be, how do pilots counteract that? I guess to better state my question, how do they regain control of the aircraft? Below the cloud layer at ORD yesterday the winds were blowing somewhere around 32035. It was quite a fun ride, but the question came into my mind.
"And I said you flyboys really crack me up!"~The Simpsons
RoseFlyer From United States, joined Feb 2004, 5646 posts, RR: 27 Reply 1, posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 906 times:
Quoting Andoo (Thread starter): I once had heard someone explain "severe turbulence" as "turbulence violent enough to where pilots lose control of the aircraft". If this is the case, and it very well may not be, how do pilots counteract that? I guess to better state my question, how do they regain control of the aircraft?
As much as I hate saying it, there isn't that much that can be done. Severe turbulence is rare and is usually only associated with strong thunderstorms. But if you have enough altitude, you should still be ok. If you hit severe turbulence while close to the ground however, it would be bad.
There is a level of turbulence that is worse. Extreme turbulence is what signifies a loss of control of the airplane. If it is so bad that the control surfaces of the plane aren't doing anything, then there isn't anything that the pilot can do. They can't really fight it. The best thing to do is to push through it. It can't be a large section. The safest thing is to avoid it. Extreme turbulence associated with microburts should always be avoided. It has brought airliners down before. The best example is that of a Delta L1011 crashing on approach into Dallas.
[Edited 2006-04-05 01:47:10]
My job is to make it so your flight is not delayed. Come fly the friendly skies!
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 890 times:
Quoting Andoo (Thread starter): I once had heard someone explain "severe turbulence" as "turbulence violent enough to where pilots lose control of the aircraft".
The AIM definition of "severe" turbulence is as follows:
"Turbulence that causes large, abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude. It usually causes large variations in indicated airspeed. Aircraft may be momentarily out of control."
The operative word there is "may" and it's quite possible to experience severe turbulence without a loss of control.
474218 From United States, joined Oct 2005, 3826 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 868 times:
I never worry about turbulence as long as the flight crew has turned on the seat belt sign prior to the turbulence. However, if the turbulence hits first I get a little nervous that the flight crew may not be awake.
RoseFlyer From United States, joined Feb 2004, 5646 posts, RR: 27 Reply 4, posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 842 times:
Quoting Andoo (Thread starter): Below the cloud layer at ORD yesterday the winds were blowing somewhere around 32035. It was quite a fun ride, but the question came into my mind.
Winds of 35 knots are strong, but not terribly strong. If the winds are sustained at that level, flight operations can still continue if the crosswind component is low enough. It will cause delays, but it won't be that dangerous. The midwest had some high winds yesterday, but the skies were still relatively clear, so it wasn't all bad.
Quoting 474218 (Reply 3): I never worry about turbulence as long as the flight crew has turned on the seat belt sign prior to the turbulence. However, if the turbulence hits first I get a little nervous that the flight crew may not be awake.
You don't have to worry about flight crews accidentally flying into severe turbulence. You could accidentally go through clear air turbulence which is hard to predict and can cause injuries, but that won't bring down an airplane.
Pilots know when severe and extreme turbulence will be occuring. It usually occurs along a front and in thunderstorms. This type of weather has brought down planes in the past like the L1011 in DFW, FedEx DC10 in EWR, and some planes trying to operate in typhoons, but you don't have to worry about it in normal operations. This type of stuff is rare, and planes almost never encounter it. You are far more likely to die in a car crash, then go through turbulence strong enough to bring down a plane. Turbulence is naturally uncomfortable because it is unpredictable. But it usually isn't any different then driving a car down a dirt road with potholes.
My job is to make it so your flight is not delayed. Come fly the friendly skies!
MrMcCoy From United States, joined Sep 2005, 377 posts, RR: 2 Reply 6, posted (3 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 655 times:
Heck, I read once that a JAL 747 hit turbulence so severe a while back that the a/c inverted at one point, and the wing spars were permanently bent. I also recall hearing that the aircraft landed safely following that incident too.
Could be hearsay, but I'm fairly confident it's fact.
It only takes five years to go from rumor to standard operating procedure.
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