Many passengers fear turbulence, but pilots consider it a normal part of flying. Pilot Patrick Smith, host of AskThePilot.com, said: “From our perspective, turbulence is, for lack of a better term, normal. In really rare cases, it can injure people and damage aircraft, but in practice it’s a comfort and convenience issue rather than a safety issue.”
Pilots study weather patterns and choose optimal routes to minimise turbulence. Smith explains that while passengers may feel the plane is plummeting, pilots see only minor altitude changes. “In the minds of passengers, the plane is plummeting hundreds of thousands of feet, but we might only see a twitch of 10 or 20 feet on the altimeter,” he said.
Flight attendant Derry Lin from Cathay Pacific emphasised the importance of following crew instructions. He wrote on Quora: “Turbulence is definitely more dangerous than you think. When you see us talking down the aisle when we tell you to fasten your seatbelts, you think we’re overreacting. We’re not.”
According to The Points Guy, 80 percent of turbulence is classified as ‘light’. Smith has never encountered extreme turbulence in his career and reassures passengers that pilots do everything possible to avoid it. For a smoother ride, seats over the wing are best, as they are near the plane’s centre of lift and gravity.
