Many people do not like to use such a vehicle as an airplane. Everyone has their own opinion on this matter, but they usually have one thing in common. What? Of course, fear. It can occur for a variety of reasons. Some people are afraid of crashing, others hate getting into turbulence. In addition, many consider this method of transportation to be too expensive.
What is turbulence?
And yet there are people who love to fly. When they get into turbulence zones, as a rule, the question arises as to whether this is harmful. Enjoying the flight, feeling adrenaline when taking off or landing is one thing, but when the body shakes (and not always gently and safely), various arguments and assumptions arise. So, what is turbulence and how does it affect human he alth?
Turbulence is often called "chatter" among the people. In simple terms, these are various kinds of aircraft oscillations that arise as a result of eddy currents of wind, descending and ascending. In addition, a small area of turbulence may occur due to certain types of clouds. Usually the planecan withstand such loads, and passengers may feel only a slight wiggle.
What is the danger of turbulence?
Every pilot takes care of his plane and passengers. So he tries to avoid the slightest danger. So, the pilot avoids the cloud zone. But there are cases when the aircraft gets into such air currents that are capable of throwing it at supercritical angles of attack. As a result, the entire vehicle may be at risk. That is why a pilot will never deliberately fly into thunderclouds. Such objects are clearly visible on the locator and warn of possible obstacles.
Thus, the turbulence zone is an unpredictable phenomenon. It is caused by the accumulation of air masses and sometimes may not be displayed on the pilot's locator. As a result, no one is immune from this.
Safety First
It is impossible to say for sure if turbulence is dangerous. It all depends on the air flow. It is worth noting that before the start of the flight, each pilot undergoes special training. During it, he gets acquainted with the weather and chooses the best route.
But there are also situations when it is impossible to plan or predict the route. When you fly by plane for more than eight hours, predicting weather changes is simply unrealistic. Then you should rely only on the excellent skills and attentiveness of the pilot. In addition, special equipment that will soften the chatter can protect the aircraft from trouble.
Other causes of turbulence
Note that one of the possible reasons for the formation of a turbulence zone can be jet streams. Their essence lies in the fact that they can change very quickly and in different directions, that is, in horizontal or vertical directions. A feature of such currents is that they can stretch for several hundred thousand kilometers. Most often they can be found near the eastern United States.
Due to the dense traffic in the sky, the aircraft can avoid this or that zone of turbulence. In other cases, the phenomenon can adversely affect the person and the vehicle as a whole. It is very important that passing aircraft maintain a certain distance between themselves. Firstly, this is necessary so that they do not collide, and secondly, it helps to reduce the risk of falling into the turbulence zone.
Many people believe that chatter is the result of pilot error or unprofessionalism. This is a completely wrong assumption! The aircraft very often moves on autopilot, and the main task of the commander is to observe the locators in the cockpit and other instruments. This function is disabled in case of strong shaking, which occurs when entering the turbulence zone. Then the pilot controls the aircraft manually. And how much the aircraft will shake depends only on itself. The greater the mass of the aircraft, the more noticeable the shocks will be.
In addition to the above reasons, there is another one. For example, while descending, the aircraft may collide with strongwhirlwind, gust of wind. But you should not worry too much about this either, since in our time special standards and flight parameters have been developed during the turbulence, which allow you to avoid trouble. If they don't help, then it's the pilot's job to land the plane at the nearest emergency airfield.
Advice to passengers
Whatever areas of turbulence you encounter along the way, you should never panic prematurely. Yes, we will not deny that such a phenomenon should not be underestimated. At best, before the flight, each person needs to prepare a little by listening to the recommendations of professionals and reading the necessary literature.
But one question is still of interest to all passengers: "What is the danger of turbulence?" Let's hasten to reassure all people who suffer from aerophobia: chatter can be a little scary, but in 120 years of aviation history, not a single disaster has occurred, the cause of which would or could be turbulence. This is because pilots know very well how to react and behave in such situations. And also today there are a lot of parameters, standards, techniques that help to avoid an unfavorable situation.
Turbulence: danger or fear?
There are a lot of reasons for the phenomenal phenomenon: turbulence from the ends of the wings, uneven heating of the air, the meeting of air masses, the temperature of which varies, and much more. But these are only minor factors that can lead to chatter. One way or another, avoid itmuch easier than getting into the epicenter of events. Rest assured, no pilot will send his plane to a dangerous place! A slight shaking should not be taken as an alarm sign and a threat to a safe flight. The harm of turbulence is just a myth that, in the conditions of the development of advanced technologies, cannot harm a person.
