Dangerous Turbulence: Airlines Must Take Action Amid Spike in Severe In-flight Disturbances

In recent years, air travel has become increasingly dangerous due to severe in-flight turbulence. Passengers on several airlines have required medical attention after experiencing sudden drops in altitude during flights. One such incident occurred with Singapore Air Flight SQ321, which encountered severe turbulence upon entering Thai airspace and resulted in an emergency landing in Bangkok during its journey from London to Singapore.

Turbulence is becoming more prevalent and can even result in death and serious injury. According to the turbli database, the most turbulent flights connect Santiago in Chile to Santa Cruz in Bolivia, while flights departing from Tokyo are the roughest long-haul services according to the website’s analysis of 150,000 routes using data from UK and US government meteorological agencies.

Strong turbulence occurs when air streams of different speeds converge, often at the boundaries of jet streams, over mountains, and in certain cloud storms. The Santiago-Santa Cruz route experiences turbulence due to winds from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean flowing almost perpendicular to the Andes, while turbulence is also common near the equator. It is important for airlines to take necessary precautions and inform passengers about potential risks before boarding a flight.