Why Some Flight Routes Are More Turbulent Than Others

31.05.2024 - 14:11 / afar.com

In-flight turbulence is nothing new, but those who believe it’s on the rise got fresh evidence recently, with two cases of severe turbulence occurring in short succession.

First, there was the terrifying episode on May 21 aboard Singapore Airlines flight 321 from London to Singapore, in which one passenger died (of a reported heart attack) and dozens more were injured. That was followed by Qatar Airways flight 107 from Doha to Dublin this past weekend, which ran into turbulence serious enough to send 12 people on board to the hospital to be treated for injuries. Investigations into the causes of both incidents are underway.

All this has resulted in growing concerns that as extreme weather events grow more common due to climate change, so do the odds of more mile-high scares.

But some promising developments could improve safety while up in the air: A bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recently passed Congress and was signed into law, includes a little-noticed provision that directs the agency to adopt a series of safety recommendations that could lower the rate of injuries. Those proposals, which emerged from a 2021 report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), range from better coordinating weather data to encouraging the use of child safety seats.

The NTSB report noted that “turbulence-related accidents are the most common type of accident” involving U.S. airlines in recent years, most of which result in one or more serious injuries.

Improved technology and better monitoring of conditions could help pilots navigate around the most extreme weather conditions, the NTSB stated.

“We’ve gotten better at predicting these incidents,” said John Cox, a longtime pilot and president of Safety Operating Systems, an aviation safety consultancy.

He emphasized that while better technology to warn pilots may help, some of the best precautions are of the low-tech variety: Aviation experts have long argued that fliers should stay belted at all times when seated, even when the seat-belt sign is turned off.

Aside from this common-sense advice, is there anything else fliers can do to protect against—or even avoid—a bumpy ride?

Turbulence can happen anywhere, at any time, especially “clear-air” turbulence, which as its name suggests, tends to arise with little or no warning. Instances of clear-air turbulence are on the rise due to the intensifying effect of climate change on jet streams, bands of strong wind that typically flow from west to east across the globe. Earth has four main jet streams: two polar jet streams near the north and south poles and two subtropical jet streams closer to the equator.

Safety expert Cox said that there are areas more prone to turbulence,