Singapore Airlines’ turbulence this week was extremely rare, but passengers should not be complacent.
Even much less severe turbulence than that of flight SQ321 can be dangerous and uncomfortable.
Here, experienced former pilot Terry Tozerauthor of Confessions of an Airline Pilot – Why Planes Crashand Nicky Kelvin, editor-in-chief at The points man travel site, revealing where you should sit for maximum comfort and safety during turbulence and whether you should wear your seat belt for the entire flight.
Terry also reveals how pilots plan ahead to avoid turbulence and how he has never experienced turbulence as severe as the ordeal suffered by SQ321 during his 20-year career in the skies.
Where is the best place to sit on an airplane?
Former pilot Terry Tozer and The Points Guy’s Nicky Kelvin reveal where to sit for maximum comfort and safety during turbulence
Terry told MailOnline Travel: ‘The plane is hanging by the wings, so think of the rest as a springboard. The place where you will feel the least turbulence is above the wing.
‘However, it won’t stop you from being completely affected.
‘I used to have the feeling that I was at the sharp end, we had to endure the worst. On a long, thin airplane, the ends bounce up and down more than the middle.”
Do not sit near the galley
Nicky said: ‘Passengers can choose to sit in the center of the aircraft, above the wings, for a smoother ride, but also away from the galleys, which contain many objects that can become projectiles during extreme turbulence.’
Choose a window seat
Nicky said: ‘Consider a window seat to avoid being directly under the boot, which can open in extreme turbulence.’
Do you have to wear your seat belt for the entire flight?
Terry said, “Yes. Unless you’re strapped in, you’re going up when the plane crashes. So the secret is to keep your belt made up.
‘On a long-haul flight it’s difficult because you have to get up and go to the toilet and the cabin crew have to move around all the time, so there’s no 100 percent safe way to deal with it, but you can limit your limitations. risks.
‘I never sit there without my seatbelt on. I don’t understand why you would do that.’
Anticipate the potential for turbulence
Terry told MailOnline Travel: ‘The plane is hanging by the wings, so think of the rest as a springboard. The place where you feel the least turbulence is above the wing’
Nicky said: ‘Understand where extreme turbulence is most likely, such as around the equator and the northern jet streams over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.’
Passengers can also check via the website whether turbulence is forecast on their route Turbli.comthat uses the same data sources that pilots and airlines use to plan their flights.
Turbli.com shows expected turbulence on interactive maps and, once a flight number is entered, via a static turbulence graph for the journey, summarizing how smooth the journey will be.
Turbulence is the last thing you need to worry about. Barring an extreme event, it will only cause you to spill coffee, which is an uncomfortable feeling
How rare is dangerous turbulence?
Terry told MailOnline: ‘An event like Singapore Airlines is very, very rare. I have only encountered turbulence once that gave us a level change of a few thousand feet in a career of about twenty years.
‘That was in a 20-ton four-engine Dash 7.
“The turbulence caused by thunderstorms lifted it 1,000 feet, and then we went down 1,000 feet.
“And that wasn’t as bad as the Singapore Airlines event.
“We knew the storm was there and we gave it a very wide berth. We were 15 miles downwind, but we still got the turbulence from the top of it.”
He added: ‘Turbulence is the last thing you need to worry about. Barring an extreme event, it will only cause you to spill coffee, which is an uncomfortable feeling. It won’t cause the plane to turn upside down.’
Can pilots anticipate turbulence?
Terry said: ‘When you report to work you will be given a folder with all the information you need to carry out your flight, and in that will be the meteorological folder and in it will be weather information about your route – it will highlight areas where the meteorologists suspect there may be significant air turbulence and it will also show you where they expect convective activity, such as thunderstorms.
‘In the area where the Singapore Airlines flight took place, it is common knowledge that you can get quite aggressive thunderstorms.
‘You have a weather radar that allows you to see it. But what you can’t see is turbulence not associated with a storm cell: clear air turbulence.
‘The meteorologist can indicate on the map that there is a good chance that this will happen in a certain area. This happens when two air masses move in opposite directions. For example, at the bottom of a jet stream you almost always get turbulence. Because it’s going faster than the air around it, which is confusing everything.”
Terry revealed that aircraft report turbulence to air traffic control, which is then reported to other aircraft on the same airway.
Aircraft may then attempt to change levels or make minor changes in direction.