Turbulence Forecast Blog » Interesting

Baby born on transatlantic flight

tb_neg — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:23:26 +0000

A baby was born on a transatlantic flight from AMS-BOS.

The six-pound (2.7kg) baby named Sasha was delivered on New Year’s Eve with the help of two doctors on the eight-hour-long Northwest Airlines flight.

No word on whether or not the baby can claim frequent flier miles on her first flight aboard the soon to be absorbed Northwest Airlines.

Northwest Airlines

Emirates allows you to shower at 43,000 feet

tb_neg — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:42:32 +0000

Considering that at one time, you could find a piano bar in a 747, a shower on an airplane while in the air at 43,000 isn’t that far of a reach. but I wonder what happens if you hit a rough patch of air in the shower? Drop down seat in the shower? Waterproof seat belts? Speculate all you want after watching this video of the new Emirates A380 with shower spa. Other features include a fully stocked bar, and apparently, a rubber duck is included.

Shower Spa Video.

Emirates

Jet stream shifting towards the poles

tb_neg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:51:26 +0000

Good news for those of you who like a smoother ride. Although subtle, the jet streams have been slowly shifting towards the poles gradually over the past 20 years.

Full Article, and below, a video.

Laminar Flow vs Turbulent Flow

tb_neg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:45:16 +0000

Here are two great approximations of turbulence near the jet stream. While the jet stream can cause a turbulent flight, it can also be smooth. This is why turbulence is so hard to predict.

Turbulent

Laminar

Most flights, most of the time, are smooth.

tb_neg — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:12:37 +0000

While this PDF document is heavy reading, it is a fascinating read if you have the time. The document has an interesting excerpt that states that most turbulence is proportionately over reported and smooth flights are under reported.

From: SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES FOR REGIONAL CLEAR-AIR TURBULENCE PREDICTION

In-situ data provides a better representation of turbulence statistics in the atmosphere (Dutton (1980), Sharman et al. (2006)). Figure 1 shows that over 99% of in-situ reports are reports of null turbulence. If this distribution is representative, at any time at most 0.01% of the atmosphere at upper levels should contain MOG turbulence. In contrast, about half of PIREPs report null turbulence, 27% report light, 17% report moderate and 1% report severe; thus, pilots substantially underreport the null events. In-situ data overcomes this uncertainty by reporting data every minute during flight.

Terminal 5 at Heathrow causes baggage hell

tb_neg — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:34:51 +0000

Poorly executed planning at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 has left many travelers in misery as over 15,000 pieces of luggage pile up due to a multitude of factors:

Lack of parking for baggage handlers
Computer systems that did not allow baggage handlers to login
Poor training of baggage handlers on procedures regarding new baggage system

Sky News Article

Rough day for an unfortunate Gulfstream pilot

tb_neg — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:44:13 +0000

PIREP 01:29Z 02/08/08
PVU UUA /OV PVU /TM 0129 /FL190 /TP GLF5 /SK OVC090-TOP190 /TB MOD-SEV 120-190 /RM DURC WORST IN 20 YRS

Some days, it’s just a really nasty day to fly. This report came from over Utah.

B52 reports moderate-severe turbulence over Oklahoma

tb_neg — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:56:53 +0000

PIREP 20:26Z 02/07/08
FYV UUA /OV 20W RZC/TM 2026/FL210/TP B52/TB MOD-SEVERE TURB/RM ZME

It’s not every day that you see a pilot report of turbulence from such a formidable plane. Today though, is one of those days.

Video of undular bore found, see what Air Canada 190 felt

tb_neg — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:22:35 +0000

CrankyFlier posted a fascinating video of a undular bore, which may have caused the severe turbulence on Air Canada Flight 190, that injured 10 passengers and forced the plane to make an emergency landing to treat the passengers.

Aerochannel Article – TURBULENCE – The Unforgettable Flight

tb_neg — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:58:05 +0000

AeroChannel, a new website that predicts how long it will take you to get to the gate of your airplane, has written an article on turbulence.

Explaining the turbulence, the pilot said they had hit a significant amount of windshear on the approaches. On the flight back, Snyder noticed the same crew working onboard the plane. When he mentioned to one of the flight attendants that he had been on the �windshear� flight, her face turned ghostly white. “I’ve never been so scared before,� the flight attendant confessed. And then she said, �I thought we were going to crash.”

Read about the turbulence experienced by CrankyFlier on a flight to Charlotte, and also learn more about turbulence including some turbulence encounters that people have had.

AeroChannel Article