That's why I wear my seatbelt.... not because of crashes
this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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Yep, I lived it, maybe 20 years ago, in some unattended turbulence, the plane dropped a few feet suddenly, it happens so quickly that a lot of people just "stayed there into the air" while the luggage overhead cabinets crashed on their head, it was a WTF moment, I had my belt so was ok, but a couple of people got roughed.
Turbulence is normal but can get nasty. Definitely wear one unless I need to go to the restroom or something
On a 12 hour flight you are likely to need to go to the bathroom at some point.
To minimise risk, normally pilots warn of impending turbulance and put the seatbelt light on so crew and passengers can avoid being caught out.
This sounds like a computer error or similar.
I asked ‘what happened’ and he said ‘my gauges just blanked out, I lost all of my ability to fly the plane’.
Seems like the plane had some sort of equipment failure that caused the cockpit to go dark for a moment.
Boeing airplanes are so perfectly incompetently manufactured that when "the computer" bugs out, all aeronautical physics stop being valid. It's amazing.
Headline is clickbaitey, the fact it's a Boeing is irrelevant. This can just happen.
I was on a flight to Colorado from Canada, flying over the Rockies, and we hit a mild patch of turbulence that, without warning, suddenly turned into a quick, long drop that threw folks who weren't belted in out of their seats and sent drinks flying.
The lesson is simple: wear your damn seatbelt and avoid walking around the cabin unnecessarily.
the fact it’s a Boeing is irrelevant. This can just happen.
That seems like an open question, given quotes like this:
Jokat said there was no turbulence after the incident and once the plane landed the pilot came to the back of the plane in “shock”.
“I asked ‘what happened?’ and he said ‘my gauges just blanked out, I lost all of my ability to fly the plane’.”
It's just one passenger's word so far, but it merits investigation. Sounds like it could have been a problem with the plane.
Fair enough. Notably, that quote isn't in the Reuters article, which is what I was commenting on.
No arguments about the need for an investigation, particularly if that quote from the pilot is genuine.
Article doesn't seem to agree with you:
The head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, said the agency will work with Australian authorities or the New Zealand authorities to investigate. "We will certainly follow that closely" given the airplane was manufactured in the U.S., he said. The U.S. National Safety Board said it did not yet have anything official on the incident...
In 2008, dozens of people were injured when another wide-body jet, an Airbus 330 operated by Qantas Airways, dropped sharply because of faulty readings from a flight data computer while heading for Perth in Australia.
All that says is they're investigating.
At this time, unless something new comes to light, there's little reason to believe it's anything but an unusual episode of turbulence.
Edit: and according to a different article, there is at least one passenger who claims the pilot said their controls "blanked out" which would qualify as "something new".
The part I'm disagreeing with is your idea that this should be written off as something that just happens. Authorities don't appear to share your view.
Normally pilots warn crew and passengers when approaching possible turbulence. In this case the crew got hurt.
Random turbulence that maims the flight crew just wouldn't be practical as a "thing that just happens" on regular longhaul flights.
There's an outside chance it's a freak accident, but it's far more likely that it's some kind of malfunction (of pilot or more likely of the plane).
Random turbulence that maims the flight crew just wouldn't be practical as a "thing that just happens" on regular longhaul flights.
I never said it happens often but it absolutely does happen. Here was a particularly spectacular example that happened to folks a few years back on their way to Australia (and note, if you want more examples, the article lists a couple of other past incidents that also resulted in crew and passenger injuries):
https://apnews.com/article/49db2788d04d4e11bcbb1a63dbae4199
Passengers on a flight from Canada to Australia said they had no warning about turbulence that suddenly slammed people into the ceiling of the plane and injured more than three dozen — a phenomenon that experts say can be nearly impossible for pilots to see coming.
One passenger on that flight noted:
“The plane just dropped,” passenger Stephanie Beam said. “When we hit turbulence, I woke up and looked over to make sure my kids were buckled. The next thing I knew there’s just literally bodies on the ceiling of the plane.”
So again, I cannot emphasize this enough: wear your damn seatbelts, people.
Thanks, interesting read.
I still think it's too early to tell if this was that or computer failure, though.
Interestingly New Zealand is now demanding the black box from LATAM...