Singapore Airlines turbulence with fatalities.

With over 50 years of flying I have never hit turbulence like this. I did hit some serious stuff at 45,000 Feet once upon a time but it did not result in an upset or loss of control of the aircraft.

This incident as reported involved clear air turbulence (CAT) which was evidently Severe. When seated wear you seat belt !

At 37,000 and all clear you do not expect such a thing to happen unless the winds aloft are unusually strong and even then it is rare.youtu.be...

Sure it is better to unbuckle and move about the cabin, but if I remember I loosely buckle.

a reply to: 727Sky

I was flying to the Philippines in 2018, we hit CAT! It was awful! A few people were not buckled and hit the ceiling! It was on a 747-400 before they went to the boneyard!

a reply to: 727Sky

I use to fly 3 weeks a month for my job a few years ago.

I've experienced all kinds of turbulence but never anything as bad as this.

Wow...

originally posted by: JJproductions
a reply to: 727Sky

I was flying to the Philippines in 2018, we hit CAT! It was awful! A few people were not buckled and hit the ceiling! It was on a 747-400 before they went to the boneyard!

This time of year is when the monsoon/rainy season comes to much of S.E. Asia. Winds aloft change and during the change rivers of air clash causing turbulence.

747-400 was a money maker for the airline if you could load them up with passengers and cargo; of course the same can be said for most commercial airliners.

I never bounced passengers off the ceiling as that seemed to cause passengers being pissed and to much paperwork and questions. I would assume with the amount of injuries in this incident there will be lawsuits and no telling what else ?

a reply to: 727Sky

The rainy season in S.E. Asia is not fun, that is for sure.

The worst turbulence ever was in 1996, Northwest 727 landing in DTW! I miss the 727!

a reply to: 727Sky

Can you imagine having to fly home again.

Or on to another destination after enduring that sort of ordeal???!!!

I think i would be booking passage back home on a ship.

Even if it took a few months to arrive.

a reply to: andy06shake

Haha or a paddle boat! With a fishing pole!

a reply to: 727Sky

Hit some serious CAT one night on a NRT-->SFO ride, also on a 400. Definitely slammed some folks off the roof, and knocked about 25% of the OH bins open. Fortunately, no major injuries, but one of the FA's got banged up pretty good. Came out of nowhere, like a lightning bolt. I was sound asleep when it hit, but woke up instantly when I was pulling some serious negative G's on the seatbelt. The real surprise for me was when we hit the updraft at the bottom; just this jarring shock so hard I, in my half awake state, thought for a moment we'd hit the water! Happened about 3 times like that, one right after another. The transition from up too down wasn't to jarring, but the transition from down to up was like hitting a solid surface...BAM!! You could hear the cabin panels squeaking and the floor flexing. Can't remember now if I was on SQ or UA, but it was one of the two (pretty sure it was SQ as the FA who got banged up was this beautiful SE Asian gal (all UA FA's were like Nurse Ratched / Wicked Witch of the West due to seniority)).

Startled the crap outta' me.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I was on a DC10, same thing happened! Going from down to a high was awful. The sound was not good. Thank g-d the DC10’ were sent to to boneyard!

originally posted by: JJproductions
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I was on a DC10, same thing happened! Going from down to a high was awful. The sound was not good. Thank g-d the DC10’ were sent to to boneyard!

Strange thing to say for a plane that survived such an event. I could understand feeling that way if one had broken apart and sent you to your death, but... lol

My Dad is a retired Delta captain and has told me more than enough stories that I have always kept my seat belt on when seated. I keep telling my wife, but she refuses.

a reply to: tanstaafl

Yes, your dad must have some amazing stories! She should keep her seatbelt on! Planes are made to fly and not build to crash.

Seatbelt is a must because you never know…

a reply to: tanstaafl

I actually flew with Al Haynes on his final UA (retirement) flight from DEN to SEA in 1991. I didn't need to go to Seattle that day, but neither did about 90% of the other people on that flight. My ex worked for UA at the time, and she came along for the ride as well. Had lunch at SEATAC and got on a plane back to Denver.

For those whom don't know who Al Haynes was, Haynes was the Captain onboard United Flight 232, the DC-10 which crashed in Sioux City, Iowa on July 19, 1989. Because of his (and the rest of his crew's) heroic actions 184 people of the 289 onboard survived. Had it not been for their actions, with him in command, there would have been no survivors.

And to put into perspective just how much of a miracle was performed that day back in 1989, I had the fantastic opportunity once to fly one of the United DC-10 flight training simulators at the DEN flight training facility in the early 2000's. When I talked with the instructor pilot in the simulator he asked (with a chuckle) if I wanted them to load the Flight 232 simulation. I thanked him and respectfully declined, but I inquired if anyone had ever managed to successfully land 232. His response was bone chilling to say the least!

"Land it???", he said..."Hell, not even the best test pilots on planet Earth, from McDonnell Douglas, from NASA, or United, have managed to get Flight 232 even close to Sioux City airport, let alone get it near the ground and slowed down enough to put it on the ground in one piece like those guys did...not even close!! And these are the best pilots in the entire World!! Al Haynes never accepted being called a 'hero', but if he and his crew's efforts aren't heroic, then I don't know what a hero is!"

So, it was worth it to take a ride on Haynes final flight, and pay tribute to a true hero, just as it was worth it for the 200+ other passengers who also didn't really need to go to Seattle that day.

BTW - I did fly the DC-10 simulator, but not the Flight 232 simulation (thank you very much). It wasn't a pretty landing, but I got it on the ground.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: tanstaafl

I actually flew with Al Haynes on his final UA (retirement) flight from DEN to SEA in 1991. I didn't need to go to Seattle that day, but neither did about 90% of the other people on that flight. My ex worked for UA at the time, and she came along for the ride as well. Had lunch at SEATAC and got on a plane back to Denver.

For those whom don't know who Al Haynes was,

Wow, very interesting, thanks! I'll have to ask my Dad about it. I'm pretty sure he was Captain on the DC-10, but if memory serves, his last plane was the L-1011. He did a lot of instructing and training, while he was with Delta as well as during the early parts of his career. I wonder if he ever tried that simulation...

TS can do that, also around the jet stream. Not sure what else at that altitude.