Turbulence- some facts please.

Wanderer2010

Hello, Im going on a flight to Italy with my friend next week and sadly she has a severe fear of flying as a result of a very turbulent trip to Canada last year where the plane was rocking quite a lot for an hour or so. From how she described it, it doesnt actually sound bad, but she now has a deathly fear of it happening. I obviously cannot guarantee it wont happen on our trip but I have been looking up facts on crashes and the link to turbulence in order to reassure her its not fatal.

From what I understand, its a normal part of flying and meeting different air speeds and although it can be disquieting, it wont cause a plane to crash and you just either go through it or seek an alternative altitude for the comfort of passengers. Are there any decent articles or YT videos the knowledgeable posters in here could share as right now, she is convinced that Air France crashed from turbulence (although I understand that was caused by an inexperienced pilot putting the plane into a stall after the instruments malfunctioned) and we will suffer the same fate next week!

Thanks.

L1011

The BEA report on AF447 should be enough. Terrible training and faulty instruments that were already known about lead to that, not turbulence.

A plane "rocking a lot" is not severe turbulence although I imagine she's convinced herself it is. That level of turbulence has never killed anyone - and never will. You probably need to ban her watching National Geographic because there isn't really a single non hysterical, overhyped video or TV show out there.

Locker10a

They best way to calm someone in these situations is firstly to be calm yourself! I strongly believe fear is contagious ! If your sitting beside your friend just act as normal as you always would, secondly point out that everyone else on the plane is acting normal, perhaps point out the crew who will probably still be going about their duties. Everyone else is fine there is no cause for concern at all! It's completely normal! This will help your friend realise she has no cause for concern.
If things get bumpy don't be the first to mention it, don't start to tell them "ohh it will be ok" this is only highlighting the fact that something they don't like is happening. Just behave Normally if they needs support or reassurance that's fine but wait until they ask" is this normal "
Then just say yeah this is normal! Don't make a big deal!

martinsvi

just a thought here - you say you want to prove that turbulence is not fatal, but do you have to? Is your friend afraid of dying or afraid of going through unknown, unreasonable and uncomfortable motions? If it's the second one, nothing really cures it better than going through the whole ordeal again and again and again..

Chris_5339762

I was once told that the only time to get worried is when the flight attendants LOOK worried.

Alun

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

I was once told that the only time to get worried is when the flight attendants LOOK worried.

The worst turbulence I ever experienced was when the cabin staff were told very brusquely to return to their seats immediately and passengers were told to throw any hot drinks they had just been served onto the carpet :eek: What fun (not!)

Locker10a

Alun wrote: »

The worst turbulence I ever experienced was when the cabin staff were told very brusquely to return to their seats immediately and passengers were told to throw any hot drinks they had just been served onto the carpet :eek: What fun (not!)

I've experienced this, as crew, it still didn't worry me I was never in fear for my life, perhaps worried about any injuries that may occur from anyone not in their seats but it's really not that bad if your strapped in

Tea 1000

Looking at the wing testing is always reassuring! You never see them like this in use!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B74_w3Ar9nI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRf395ioJRY

Wanderer2010

An update.

Thanks to everyone for their posts and also the videos, they are absolutely fascinating and led to other links and videos which i watched for nearly 3 hours. Its incredible to think how much stress they place the plane under before commercial flights.

My friend was very nervous on morning of flight and I was trying to be as helpful as possible by reassuring her that the flight was only 2 hours and done so regularly by pilots etc that there was no issues and although we had a long wait for taxi (busy bank holiday weekend!), once we were airborne it was extremely smooth and comfortable and my friend spent the first 20 minutes with her eyes closed and rocking but gradually started reading Cara magazine and 10 minutes before landing we were chatting away.

Sadly on the way back we had about 5 minutes of turbulence, just your typical stuff, and my friend started quietly sobbing and closed her eyes but I wasnt sitting next to her on the way back so at least her panic didnt spread! Im proud of her.