Last year, atmospheric scientist Professor Paul Williams, who was also a co-author of the first worldwide study on the effects of climate change on turbulence, issued a warning: unless action is taken to combat climate change, it will only cause more and more disruption to flights.
Does an increase in turbulence actually represent a risk, and should passengers be concerned?
To find out, we talked to a few pilots.
Chris McGee has almost thirty years of experience flying both long- and short-haul aircraft.
She says there’s roughly the same chance of an airplane crashing due to turbulence as if I were to step outside the door and have a meteorite land on my head.
That chance is quite unlikely because new materials, like carbon fiber, are far more flexible and able to ride the turbulence in an even safer and more comfortable way as technology advances.
Although it is extremely unlikely to cause a disaster, there have recently been accounts of terror occurring during flights.
Earlier this month, extreme turbulence caused an emergency landing for an Air Europa flight from Madrid, resulting in the treatment of thirty passengers in the hospital for minor injuries.
