An Air China flight encountered clear sky turbulence, and a passenger and stewardess were thrown to the top of the cabin! Why are planes getting more and more turbulent nowadays?

On July 10, many netizens posted on social media that when they were on Air China flight CA1524 from Shanghai to Beijing that day, the plane experienced severe turbulence, and the topic CA1524 turbulence# also became a hot search.

Xing Lida, an associate professor at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), was also on the flight. He shared his experience on social media, "It was a very scary flight this afternoon. The flight attendant and passengers were thrown to the top. The flight attendant protected the passengers, but they were all injured."

There are two guesses about the cause of the violent turbulence.

There are currently two speculations about the cause of the severe turbulence of the plane. One possibility is that it entered cumulonimbus or cumulonimbus clouds. On July 11, @中国天气 explained that sometimes the weather at the departure or destination is fine, but the weather on the route will also have an impact. Around 16:00 on the 10th, strong echoes were mainly concentrated in the northeast, northern Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang coastal areas, accompanied by thunderstorms in some areas. According to Metropolitan Express, aviation blogger @FATIII analyzed that according to the playback of @飞常准, there was no obvious abnormal change in the aircraft altitude, but there was indeed thunderstorm weather on the route.

Another guess is clear air turbulence. According to @Central Meteorological Observatory, clear air turbulence usually occurs on sunny days and is caused by clear air turbulence. Turbulence is caused by irregular atmospheric flow. When encountering turbulence, the aircraft will be rapidly bumped, and in severe cases, the aircraft may temporarily lose control. Because it is not accompanied by obvious weather phenomena when it occurs, it is difficult to observe and detect, and it poses a huge threat to flight safety.

Why do planes bump in the sky?

Bumping is mainly caused by unstable air. To put it simply, a car running on the road, if the road is not smooth, the car will bump. An airplane flying in the sky relies on the support of the air, if the air is unstable, the airplane will also bump.

Copyrighted images from the gallery, unauthorized reproduction, please contact the original author

Air convection and vortex airflow are both unstable airflows.

Air convection refers to the high vertical wind speed of the air. Affected by the topography, when flying in mountainous and plateau areas, the terrain causes resistance to the air, causing the air to move vertically. At noon, when the sun shines, the hot air on the ground expands and rises, and the cold air descends to replenish, causing air convection. Vortex airflow refers to the rotation of the air. In the summer when thunderstorms are frequent, the air sometimes has local vortex phenomena, and flights passing through these areas will inevitably encounter sudden turbulence. From the perspective of ensuring safety, it is necessary to fly around thunderstorms.

Of course, our pilots are not completely ignorant of turbulence. In the flight plan, there is a turbulence index near the waypoint to predict the turbulence intensity in the area. The flight crew will make corresponding preparations in advance based on these forecasts. When the turbulence is too strong or lasts for a long time, the pilot will also change the flight altitude and change the flight route to find a stable area.

At present, civil aircraft are divided into two types: jet and propeller. The former generally cruises at an altitude of 9,000 to 11,000 meters, at which they rarely encounter strong up and down winds; the latter generally cruises at an altitude of about 3,000 to 5,000 meters, and is very likely to encounter turbulence.

How do planes avoid being struck by lightning?

Thunderstorms are atmospheric discharge phenomena caused by cumulonimbus clouds, where thunder and lightning are heard, or only thunder is heard without lightning. Thunderstorms are often accompanied by heavy rain, hail, strong gusts, and rapid changes in the updrafts and downdrafts in the clouds, which pose a great threat to flight safety. However, the specific situation needs to be confirmed by the airline.

Aircraft will inevitably be struck by lightning during flight, but most of the damage is minor. According to statistics, almost every normally operating aircraft will be struck by lightning once a year, but most of them will not lead to catastrophic consequences.

Copyrighted images from the gallery, unauthorized reproduction, please contact the original author

If you want to avoid lightning strikes, you must first avoid flying in thunderstorm areas. Through the weather radar on the aircraft and the weather forecast on the ground, thunderclouds can be effectively monitored, allowing the aircraft to fly around and stay away from the thunderstorm cloud belt.

In addition, various methods have been adopted in the design process of aircraft to reduce the damage caused by lightning strikes. In modern aircraft, whether civilian or military, the threat of lightning has long been taken into account during the design. In order to protect the crew, passengers and important system components on the aircraft from lightning strikes, a gauze-like metal mesh is implanted in the external structure of the aircraft. This metal mesh runs through the entire outer shell, and the current cannot enter the cabin and is only conducted on the outside of the aircraft. In addition, electronic devices connected to the fuel tank and other avionics equipment are strictly shielded to protect them from electromagnetic pulse interference generated by lightning charges. Before an aircraft leaves the factory, it needs to undergo rigorous simulated lightning strikes on the fuselage and internal components. The aircraft must be able to withstand lightning strikes without obvious damage to the fuselage, the fuel in the fuel tank will not be accidentally ignited, and it can withstand electromagnetic interference before it can be put into use.

In order to reduce the harm of lightning strikes, electrostatic brushes are installed at the tail end of the aircraft's wings, and usually also at the tail of the fuselage. They use the principle of tip discharge to release the charge generated on the fuselage due to air friction.

Although lightning can have a great impact on aircraft flight, with the advancement of technology, this impact will become smaller and smaller, and air travel will definitely become safer.

The correct way for passengers to respond when encountering turbulence

You may not always experience turbulence on a plane, but whether or not there is turbulence, you should always wear your seat belt and follow the crew's instructions. The most important thing to do when facing turbulence is to stay seated and wear your seat belt. If you are not seated, hold on to something firm nearby to secure yourself and avoid getting hurt.

In addition, passengers should overcome their fear. When the plane is severely bumpy, the plane will shake violently or even drop rapidly, and passengers will feel weightless, which makes many people feel scared. At this time, passengers must not panic, keep a calm mind, take a deep breath, and try to stay calm.