An Air Canada flight from Victoria to Toronto was transformed into a terrifying white-knuckle roller-coaster that saw the jet violently plunge, pitch and yaw, tossing passengers, dishes and a cart about the cabin.
Turbulence Forecast reminds you to buckle up at all times, even if the flight seems smooth. You never know when turbulence will hit.
Another day, another opportunity to evaluate choices made by the airlines for passenger comfort. While no one would praise Northwest for in flight amenities, that hardly matters if the plane you are on is shaking in the mountain wave air. Right now, there are a lot of reports of moderate turbulence over Colorado, and that makes it easy to evaluate the airlines. Using FlightAware, I tracked flights who regularly fly over Colorado for the most efficient route. Comparing that route to routes taken today show a lot about which airlines care the most about your comfort.
Compare the path that Northwest 1191 takes in comparison the regular routes taken. On this graphic, NWA1191 is the green line. The regular flight path is in red. The shaded area indicates turbulence activity.
Northwest takes top prize for turbulence avoidance by flying completely around the area with a wide berth. Southwest gets a close second, as they flight a bit south of the area.
Delta does alright on some flights, flying around the area, and some fly through the area.
And the losers of this challenge: United, American, US Airways, Spirit, all flew right through. While not a safety issue, it is a comfort issue. Even if Northwest charges slightly more, consider where you spend your airfare money next time you fly, and reward the airlines that go the extra mile to ensure a smooth flight and your comfort.
Using FlightAware, take a look for yourself, the information is easy to find and easy to draw conclusions from.
Very strong winds over the western half of the United States today is turning the air into a severe turbulence soup. Many planes are reporting severe turbulence. When winds are strong and in the right direction, the mountains will send the turbulence up in the air, and there will be no altitude that isn’t effected.
A severe winter storm system will hit the great lakes and northeast on Sunday, causing many airport delays and possible flight cancellations. Airplane rides will be turbulent due to a strong jet stream and winds on the ground. Please check with your airline regarding flight status information.
South African Airways has apologised to a passenger after she broke a leg when her flight from Washington hit turbulence.
Ronel Stevens was on flight SA 208 from Washington on November 24, when the aircraft encountered turbulence.
“I was asleep, stretched out over two seats when the aircraft hit an air pocket. My foot got caught in the armrest and broke in two places, above my right ankle.”
Turbulence Forecast reminds you that injuries usually only happen in turbulence when you are not properly fastened in your seat. This passenger was laying across seats and her leg was broken in the armrest.
During the busiest travel weekend of the year, it looks like travelers will only be subject to minimal turbulence. Most flights are currently reporting only light, and a few reporting moderate. Looking forward, Turbulence Forecast expects most flights will only hit light, and a small percentage of flights will hit moderate for this travel weekend. Not a bad forecast for this time of year. Delays also appear to be minimal, but may increase for the weekend. Be sure to check with your airlines website for the latest travel information.
Among all the hype that is Apple and iPhone, a rather amusing commercial indicates that a pilot with an iPhone knows more than the dispatchers for the airlines, simply by looking at the radar. See below:
One thing you can do with your iPhone is visit Turbulence Forecast while waiting at the gate. The site has been fully tested and works well. When the captain doesn’t tell you how the flight will be, you’ll still know.
To celebrate the opening of our Travel Forum, Turbulence Forecast will be giving away a free Turbulence Forecast T-Shirt to the member who posts the best travel report.
A Travel Report should give some insight into why you went where you did, where you stayed, what you did, and share interesting photos of your trip. Had a great meal at a restaurant in Chicago? Had a good time in Ireland? Bummed around Florida for a few days? We want to hear how it went.
Due to a strong jet stream, many planes in the great lakes area are reporting moderate-severe turbulence. However, you have a good chance of avoiding the unpleasant bumps by making Northwest Airlines your carrier of choice. I used the tools at FlightAware to analyze the routes taken by various planes traveling to and from DTW to various areas which would put them right into the path of the two severe advisories that are occuring right now:
SIGMET NOVEMBER 9 VALID UNTIL 242330
SIGMET
OH IA WI IL IN KY LM MI LH
FROM 60WNW YVV TO 40NE ECK TO ROD TO PXV TO 50WNW DEC TO DBQ TO
TVC TO 60WNW YVV
OCNL SEV TURB BTN FL220 AND FL390. CONDS MOVG SLOLY NEWD AND
CONTG BYD 2330Z.
and
WSUS01 KKCI 241940
BOSO WS 241940
SIGMET OSCAR 4 VALID UNTIL 242340
SIGMET
OH MO IL IN KY
FROM FWA TO APE TO 50E BWG TO 30N DYR TO FAM TO FWA
OCNL SEV TURB BTN 100 AND FL220. CONDS CONTG BYD 2340Z.
In every route I could think of, Northwest either flew around or under the advisories until they were out of the areas. Flying low costs a lot of fuel, and with record oil prices, it’s good to see that Northwest still adheres to what they are good at; avoiding turbulence. While Northwest may not have the most modern amenities, your flight will probably be more comfortable.
Here are some of the routes I looked at: NWA426, NWA469, I ended up looking at around 20 routes for Northwest and various competitors.
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