Turbulence in Airplane

 An Air India flight from Phuket, Thailand to New Delhi, India gave passengers a frightening few minutes on Tuesday after the aircraft hit sudden mid-air turbulence, injuring several people on board as it plummeted 300 feet midair. One passenger's head made a dent in the ceiling and few were admitted to hospital. 

This is the time for summer holidays and many will be travelling far and wide. Unfortunately it is also the peak time for turbulence due to unstable tropic air clashing with jet stream on multiple fronts. I love winter travels, when the weather is salubrious, the air is still and crispy and unlike summer season, the flights are less prone to turbulences - at least in Northern hemisphere.

Turbulence in airplane scares the hell out of me. I have acropolis, the fear of heights. Once on top of the Sears Tower Chicago when my son jumped on thick glass enjoying the sight of cars plying underneath him looking like matchboxes in motion, I felt dizzy enough to step few feet back to my comfort zone. Now flying for 30 plus years it hasn't gone unnoticed to me that the occurrences of turbulences in air have gone up in recent times. To vindicate my observation, as per a report published in National Geographic magazine, because of climate change due to global warming the extreme weather events that breed turbulence are likely to become more frequent and intense. That means air travel which is already getting costlier and less customer friendly, is going to have the additional baggage of more bumpy rides. This is less pleasing and more scary scenario for all of us.

Nineteen years ago in July, 2007 at peak of the monsoon season in India moments before my flight landed at Bhubaneswar Airport, dark clouds started engulfing the plane. The Alliance Aircraft (ironically related to Air India as its subsidiary) encountered severe turbulence as it was pelted with powerfully packed tropical air currents. Unlike the violent winds outside, inside wafted a calm and composed female voice - "MAUSAM KHARAB HONE KE KARAN AAP APNI KURSI KI PETI BANDH RAKHIYE (Due to bad weather please keep fasten your seat belt). I promptly followed her order.

The plane shook vigorously, shaking my confidence to the hilt. Some slid down their window to take a peek outside, not knowing that turbulence can only be felt, can't be seen, for High School Science says Air is a mixure of invisible gases. There is no debris or dust flying at 35,000 feet to make the air visible. I am sure they must have been disappointed.
As the Aircraft shook violently, for a moment I thought the overhead baggage compartment will break open, spilling the bags on hapless passengers. The shaky roller coaster ride which lasted a few minutes seemed like eternity. It was enough for the agnostic in me to suddenly turn into a believer in God. My agnosticism vanished into thin air as I closed my eyes and started remembering all our 33 crore (330 million) Gods and Goddesses mentioned in Hinduism, including the little Goddess under the Banyan tree near my home whom I conveniently forgot for so long.

Finally the ordeal was over. The flight touched the ground amidst pouring, torrential rain. The passengers rejoiced by clapping and whistling. Soon I could hear murmurs of HEY PRABHU (O Lord) and JAI (Hail) JAGANNATH from the passengers repeatedly touching their foreheads with folded hands, offering their thanks to God Almighty for saving their lives and letting them live another day. As the flight came to complete halt, I was back to my normal self and my belief in agnosticism. The selfish me forgot once again the plethora of Gods and Goddesses I remembered only moments ago.

Flight plans avoid regions in atmosphere known to be prone to severe turbulence, but these regions constantly move. Hence it is difficult to predict exactly where the severe turbulence is going to be. Per Stanford University, USA based NASA Center of Turbulence Research help is on the way. One US airline debuted new turbulence detectors that use special radar to predict the levels and locations of turbulence in the flight path. Yet such prediction isn't 100% accurate as nature always holds the Trump card over us humans. It is going to be a perennialongoing battle between man and nature in the game of upmanship. It is very reassuring to note that , with the improvement in technology it is extremely rare for an Airline to crash due to turbulence.