Last Tuesday, the Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 who was traveling from London suffered a extreme turbulence that he left toll of one dead and at least 105 passengers injured. Several images recorded by witnesses show oxygen masks falling off and dents in the roof that reflect the violent shake and the chaotic situation that was experienced on the aircraft.
Las turbulence have become something frequent on flightstherefore the planes are prepared for not suffer any structural danger if you experience this event. Furthermore, the pilots are trained to face these situations and prevent as much as possible the possible shaking that the aircraft may experience. However the Singapore Airlines flight I experienced an extremely rare phenomenon: clear air turbulence or CAT.
This is a really dangerous type of turbulence because cannot be detected by radar, unlike other more conventional ones. As its name indicates, this is produced in clear, cloudless skiesand is caused by masses of air moving at different speeds.
Dfiles to detect
This turbulence occurs around the jet streama rapidly flowing torrent of air at a height of between 12,000 meters and 18,000 metersas explained Guy Grattonan aviation academic and commercial pilot, in statements collected by the BBC.
There may be a 160 km/h difference between the air in the jet stream and the surrounding air, which gives rise to friction that materializes in the plane in the form of turbulence. They are not very different from the traditional ones, but What makes them truly dangerous is that they are difficult to detect in advance..
According to Paul Williamsatmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, there is a percentage of this phenomenon that is detectable. About 75% are detectable. We can predecide them with precision up to 18 hours of advance notice, he assures. However, there is a 25% remaining that cannot be predicted, so they represent a danger.
How to deal with turbulence?
To get out of trouble in the event of turbulence, it is necessary for the plane to lose altitude to regain stability. To do this, you must bite the nose and descend the meters that are necessary to reach again that support that prevails throughout the trip.
This is what happened in the case of London-Singapore flightin which ten hours after taking off, the plane had to descend sharply about 1,800 meters in just three minutes in order to recover the stability that had been lost when coming into contact with clear air turbulence.
A future problem
Turbulence is the unsolved physics problem with more implications in our day to day. Although it does not usually cause many deaths, it is necessary to address this problem as soon as possible since the climate change the frequency with which it occurs is increasing this phenomenon.
Meteorological experts assure that in the last forty years the period of turbulence experienced in flights has increased considerably. Specifically, the clear air turbulence now exceeds 55% along the North Atlantic route.
After a decade of research who supported the idea that climate change will increase turbulence in clear air in the future, We now have evidence to suggest that this increase has already begun.commented Paul Williams in one of the studies carried out.
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