People who have experienced severe turbulence on a flight — what was it actually like?

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External-Creme-6226@reddit

I can almost guarantee you that most people who answer here have not been In severe. I’m a 20+ year airline pilot and I’ve felt it once, in 20+ years of full time flying. Incredibly rare.

Most people who fly have had what is defined as moderate turbulence. On the heavier side of moderate it can be extremely uncomfortable, to the point that some folks are getting worried….but by the definition, severe is very rare

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ThatLooksRight@reddit

I do wish there were some level between moderate and severe.

I hit some the other day that was really on that borderline, but we went ahead and called it severe because at that point, why not?

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nightlanding@reddit

The worst I have flown in required me to tighten my belt hard enough to feel like a tourniquet to keep my head from bashing the ceiling and changing radio frequencies was an ordeal to get your hand on the right knob. Even so, the plane was going more or less where desired so that could not be severe by definition.

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Kemerd@reddit

I’m a pilot, but not ATP.

I know what moderate feels like, California coast can have you hitting your head on the ceiling so hard your head hurts during storm season.

One time though, I was flying passenger SF to Japan for vacation. Most insane turbulence I’ve ever felt. We pulled some serious g’s. Luggage broke out, people had their lunches thrown in their faces.

Pilots essentially landed us in a hurricane. People were screaming, which I thought was hilarious. Until it got so bad even I was sitting there white knuckled. Absolute pandemonium.

I just tightened my seatbelt, put my ear plugs in and eye mask on to drown out the screaming, and tried to sleep.

/I/ know the plane is designed to handle x10 that amount of turbulence, and the guys flying are way better than me! All the women screaming though was sort of annoying..

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No-Arugula8122@reddit

Got sequenced to land behind a tilt rotor osprey in a 172. He slowed down to 30-40 knots before touchdown. Probably not severe, but it was kinda like being in a washing machine. Multiple head hitting ceiling events.

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draggingmytail@reddit

Definitely should give those guys a lot of time before you fly through their wake turbulence. When I was in the Marine Corps, my MOS was the one who did external sling loads for helicopters. Ospreys generate roughly 200 mph of down wash in a hover. We had one guy get blown overboard (he got caught in the safety nets). I can’t imagine flying a 172 through that.

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davenuk@reddit

Severe

And turbulent

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SandySprings67@reddit

Flight from San Antonio to DFW. I was on a commercial mid-size jet flight in the 90’s that experienced weather with turbulence. Out of nowhere the plane started surging violently up then down, up then down, etc. The lights were on in the cabin and were flickering on and off. Lightning struck the wings repeatedly. The jet engines were making these horrible sounds like super high pitched. Sounded deafening like they were going to explode. You could feel your stomach drop like a roller coaster. People not wearing seatbelts were thrown to floor, one guy hit head on luggage bins, oxygen masks fell, women screamed, people were crying and praying and made attempts at writing notes to loved ones. The whole event lasted about 10 minutes or so. The girl next to me said we were going to die and threw herself at me and started French kissing me (I didn’t know her at all- total stranger). Apparently there was a tornado in the area. The castaway movie scene of the plane ditching in the ocean reminded me a lot of it. It was definitely surreal like a scene in some movie.

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vanhawk28@reddit

So it almost never happens without warning. They put the seatbelt sign on that’s your warning. It’s generally not dangerous if you are actually strapped in. And above all. Turbulence itself will not cause a plane to crash. Read that twice. Turbulence does not cause planes to crash. There is not one single case recorded of a plane crashing due to turbulence. The wings can bend so far that the tips touch above the plane and they still won’t break. Just keep that in mind when you get nervous

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Gratzsner@reddit

Turbulence causes GA planes to crash all the time, can rip the wings clean off

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nightlanding@reddit

Ah.........no or I would be dead 100 times over.

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RBR927@reddit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aviation_accidents_and_incidents_caused_by_clear_air_turbulence

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FreeDwooD@reddit

That is a highly misleading article. Multiple of these crashes happened because of Microbursts, which are absolutely not clear air turbulence.

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Saltyspaceballs@reddit

Just a reminder that severe is classified as a loss of control. Most people will have a career full of moderate and that can be as uncomfortable as hell.

My airline has had severe once a few years ago, lots of broken limbs in the cabin, it caused a massive investigation and created new policies for the airline and wider industry.

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moaningpilot@reddit

I was in the bunks once and got woken up by being thrown into the ceiling face first, which not only hurt but served as my reminder to wear my seatbelt in the bunks from then on.

It was mountain wave turbulence and had been expected, so thankfully the rest of the aircraft was strapped in and there were no injuries other than my slightly squashed nose.

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FriskyFritos@reddit

Narrow body guy here. Would you not still hit your head with the seatbelt at your waist? Or is the bunk larger than I’m picturing

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moaningpilot@reddit

The seatbelt seems to be slightly higher than waist level in the bunks, more around the lower torso so I guess it pins me down a bit more. I’d have to go through mountain wave turbulence again to find out.

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FriskyFritos@reddit

Makes sense, do report back if you find out 👍

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I’ve never been through serious turbulence and I’m pretty nervous about flying, so I’m genuinely curious (and a little terrified) to hear from those of you who have.

I’m not talking about the usual light chop or even moderate bumps that make the seatbelt sign come on. I mean the extreme stuff — the kind where people get thrown out of their seats, overhead bins fly open, people get injured (or worse), and it hits with little or no warning.

If you’ve been through something like that:

What did it feel like in the moment?

How long did it last?

How much warning (if any) did the crew give?

What was the aftermath like on the plane?

Did the pilots ever explain what happened afterward?

Did you continue flying after that experience, and if so, how did it affect you going forward?

I know reading these stories might not help my fear of flying, but I’d rather know what I could actually be up against than wonder. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share.

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fly-guy@reddit

Pilot here. Flights are never planned in known severe turbulence. Sometimes, during the flight we get a warning which is based on other planes experience or a computer forecast, but sometimes we are the first to encounter it. Of those times, most begin with some mild turbulence and often that's enough for us to switch on the seatbelt sign. But it is possible to get it totally unexpected, without any indication or warning.

So lesson here is, keep your seatbelts fastened always when you are in your seat. And don't get up too often (but don't stay in your seat too long, at that might also affect your health).

Severe turbulence lasts often not that long, although it will feel like that. Also severe turbulence is quite...severe. Most turbulence people encounter isn't severe, but they experience it as such. So whenever you get shaken around, it's probably light to moderate, but to you it might feel severe.

In all cases, is not a problem for the airplane nor the pilots, they will handle it fine. The danger comes from loose items and people landing on top of you. The airplane will be fine.

It's there is a case of severe turbulence, especially when there is damage inside or wounded passengers, the pilots probably will say something, but that might take some time, as they are also busy taking to their colleagues about the damage and wounded passengers. And there isn't a hurry as the plane will keep flying happily, it's the inhaler that's the issue.

What happens after the incident depends on what happened inside. If there are severely wounded people, you might divert for medical attention. If not, you continue flying as for the airplane itself, it isn't a big deal.

In my 25 years of experience I had quite a few warnings of severe turbulence coming up (so switched on the seatbeltsign and informed the passengers and crew), but actually experienced severe turbulence only a handful of times, fortunately all without any major problems (as far as I can remember, the biggest injury was a bruised elbow when a colleague bumped it against the armrest).

It feels scary but it doesn't have to be. Of course, to be honest, there have been instances where it really came totally out of the blue and people got severely injured, but that's an exception. And most of them didnt wear the seatbelt when seated....

You will be fine, even in severe turbulence.