Travelers looking for a tropical escape can expect “friendly rollercoaster-like” bumps on their flights from Denver as America’s most turbulent flight paths have been revealed.
The route from Denver, Colorado, to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, ranks as one of the bumpiest air routes in the US, according to a new study published by Turbli.com.
The turbulence forecasting site analyzed 150,000 active airline routes and 500 of the world’s largest airports to publish a new report revealing the most turbulent flight routes in 2023.
The trip between Nashville, Tennessee and Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina emerged as the rockiest. Following closely are the flight routes between Charlotte and Pittsburgh, as well as between Denver and Puerto Vallarta.
Of the top 10 routes with the highest turbulence, airports in New York City and Boston each claim two.
Travelers looking for a tropical escape can expect ‘friendly rollercoaster-like’ bumps on their flights from Denver (pictured) as America’s most turbulent flight paths have been revealed
The route from Denver, Colorado, to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (pictured), ranks as one of the bumpiest air routes in the US, according to a new study published by Turbli.com
A social media user shared a horrific scene of the worst flight turbulence he has ever experienced
Turbulence levels range from mild, moderate, severe and extreme, with mild turbulence equating to ‘smooth flight’ and moderate bumps meaning ‘difficulty walking and eating’.
‘Severe’ turbulence results in ‘violent and sudden elevation changes’, and when extreme turbulence occurs, an aircraft is ‘practically impossible to fly’, a case described as extremely rare.
Flight turbulence is the result of changes in the distribution of air currents and pressure around the aircraft – and does not pose a major risk to safety.
As one Dreamliner long-distance captain who spoke to DailyMail.com said: ‘The type of turbulence people often worry about is clear air turbulence, which often happens at high altitudes.
‘That is related to the intercontinental jet streams that circle the globe. And where these jet streams collide is of course determined by weather patterns.
“It’s pretty easy to predict where it will be on any given day, and weather forecasters are very good at predicting it.”
The captain added that this high-altitude turbulence cannot be detected by an aircraft’s weather radar, so pilots tend to rely on other aircraft reporting it.
‘If you look at what it does to you: yes, it is unpleasant. No one likes being thrown up and down like that, or very few people do, but it’s not unsafe.”
He continued, “Planes like to fly, they don’t like to fall out of the sky, and you have to work pretty hard to make them do that.”
Shocking footage taken in the aftermath of devastating turbulence shows meals, trays, cutlery and bottles and cups strewn across the aisles during the flight from Luanda to Lisbon earlier this year
The trip between Nashville, Tennessee, and Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina proved to be America’s rockiest trip last year
The route from Santiago (above) in Chile to Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia was ranked as the most turbulent in the world
Of the airports with the highest average turbulence in 2023, Portland International Airport took first place, with airports in Denver and Las Vegas following closely.
An exciting but turbulent experience awaits travelers departing from these airports.
For nervous flyers terrorized by flight turbulence, The interactive map of Turbli.comwhich is updated every six hours, provides predictions for the current time and three, six, nine or twelve hours into the future.
The website also offers three static turbulence maps – for the world, US and Europe, with forecasts in three-hour increments up to 24 hours into the future.
Further turbulence data can be obtained by studying the website’s rankings for the world’s most turbulent routes and airports.
The 1,184 mile route of Santiago, Chile, to Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was ranked as the most turbulent in the world.
The second wobbliest jump is the short-distance jump of 340 kilometers from Almaty in Kazakhstan to the capital Bishke (EDR 17.4).