Turbulence

[Briar Lee]

A Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam was diverted to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on July 30 after encountering "significant turbulence" that resulted in 25 people being transported to hospitals, the airline said.

Medical personnel boarded the flight immediately after it landed safely at around 7:45 p.m. to evaluate those aboard, the airline said in a statement. The plane was carrying 275 passengers and a crew of 13.

Xxxxx


When I was a child in the sixties jet travel was new and our parents and teachers pushed the idea of the jet age right alongside the space age.

Those big jets have flown over five miles high at over five hundred miles an hour all my life I can remember.

Is the world losing our technical competence or is the media hungrier for jetliner accident stories?

Or is the fact the airlines can find 275 souls from Salt Lake City to fill a jet to Amsterdam, Holland mean that jet travel is so much more prevalent today that occasionally the law of averages takes over?

I’ve flown a few times when my destination was over four hundred miles away.

I kept my seat belt on and renewed my relationship with the Master.

It just ain’t natural for folks to fly that fast and high, you know?

 

[greeneyes]

I saw this and wondered if the Lord was keeping those good Mormon children away from the moral perils of Amsterdam.

 

[telescopes]

I fly a lot. I've flown through some severe thunderstorms and heard passengers wailing loudly with fright. You can be sure that the seat belt sign was on and you can be sure that many people ignored it. They just do. If you are going to fly, the seat belt needs to be fashioned when the captain says "turbulence". Ignoring it means hitting your head on the top of the plane is a very possible next event.

 

[telescopes]

It just ain’t natural for folks to fly that fast and high, you know?

I disagree.

 

[Briar Lee]

I saw this and wondered if the Lord was keeping those good Mormon children away from the moral perils of Amsterdam.

When I was a kid we were all taught about Holland being a land of dikes, windmills, and little kids wearing wooden shoes.

The Mormons might have enough folks with the money for a ticket and the time to go and passports to go see the Dutch capital on vacation.

But when you click further on that story you find this factoid.

Xxxx

Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in the U.K., studies turbulence and told USA TODAY that the data on the trends for bumpy flights is clear.

"We have very strong evidence now in many published studies that turbulence is stronger today than it was in 1979," when satellite observations of turbulence began. Williams said severe clear air turbulence is 41% more common over the United States now than it was in 1979.”

Xxxxx

We’ve got English professors from Reading University spying on us with satellites claiming there is more turbulence today than back when I was a kid.

University of Reading - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

As the little boy said that could be real bad for bidnez shaking up all them there paying customers, you know?

 

[telescopes]

"We have very strong evidence now in many published studies that turbulence is stronger today than it was in 1979," when satellite observations of turbulence began. Williams said severe clear air turbulence is 41% more common over the United States now than it was in 1979.”

Or, could it be that we simply have more flights? The simpler answer generally is more correct. Not always, but often enough.

Flying out of Milan last week, we flew directly into a thunderstorm upon takeoff. Their was a whole lot of rock and roll going on.

 

[Briar Lee]

I disagree.

The quest to make the public want to fly began after Knute Rockne got splattered all over a pasture near Bazaar Kansas.

1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

A few years ago my wife and I went on a mission to buy a few chickens in Kansas and I looked up and there was the Bazaar Cattle Pens.

Bazaar Cattle Pens - Bazaar KS, 66846

Check out the scenic overlook that allows travelers an opportunity to pull over and get a better view of the Flint Hills. Visitors can see not only the cattle grazing in the summer, but also a herd of antelope that was re-established in the area, plus a variety of plants and animals like coyotes...

www.travelks.com

Even then she was sick on the way back and I had to drive past them without stopping.

I know, and I’ve always known, that air travel is safer than being a passenger with a woman driving a Suburban 85 or 90 miles an an hour through Kansas.

And it’s many times safer than a big Indian motorcycle.

But if we come to meet our maker on the interstate it hardly ever makes national news, you know?

 

[telescopes]

Flying out of Palm Springs means landing on an airstrip surrounded by very close 10,000 to 11,000 foot peaks. By very close, I mean close enough that both Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin lost family members at different times to planes flying into the mountains. The turbulence on either approach or take off is legendary.

 

[Briar Lee]

Or, could it be that we simply have more flights? The simpler answer generally is more correct. Not always, but often enough.

Flying out of Milan last week, we flew directly into a thunderstorm upon takeoff. Their was a whole lot of rock and roll going on.

The Midwest seems to be having a heat wave that rivals the one I remember in 1980 and I’ve heard old timers talk about 1954, 1936, 1934, and 1901 all my childhood.

But my Amish renter told me yesterday there’s so much rain that hay is dirt cheap, cheaper than he can remember.

We have way more flights.

But the weather hasn’t ever been all that predictable, you know?

 

[telescopes]

And it’s many times safer than a big Indian motorcycle.

If one has to think of safety when riding an Indian, then one needs to exclude themselves from any conversations where the word Indian is mentioned. Motorcycle safety is an oxymoron. Riding a motorcycle means knowing you will face death, not as an idea, but as a certainty. That's not what people think when they choose a car or a plan or a train. One does not consider or think about safety when mounting a big beautiful Indian. It is an irrational act and while there are ways to improve safety, the bottom line is that riding a motorcycle is not safe. It is a choice made by people who are wiling to knowingly toss out the idea of safety. One rides a motorcycle like everyone else is your mortal enemy and wants to kill you, but regardless of this fact, we ride into the mob for sh*ts and grins. We know that sand, gravel, and slick spots on the road are just as dangerous. Ride long enough and you will wreck.

 

[telescopes]

 

[telescopes]

 

[Briar Lee]

Flying out of Palm Springs means landing on an airstrip surrounded by very close 10,000 to 11,000 foot peaks. By very close, I mean close enough that both Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin lost family members at different times to planes flying into the mountains. The turbulence on either approach or take off is legendary.

Here’s my question.

Huge jetliners have had systems to detect weather conditions ahead for maybe fifty years.

And the same problems of turbulence have been encountered since the days of the DC-3.

But why do you occasionally read of severe turbulence on a flight at five or six miles high over the heartland?

Can’t they see that coming?

 

[telescopes]

Here’s my question.

Huge jetliners have had systems to detect weather conditions ahead for maybe fifty years.

And the same problems of turbulence have been encountered since the days of the DC-3.

But why do you occasionally read of severe turbulence on a flight at five or six miles high over the heartland?

Can’t they see that coming?

I am not an aviator, but my brother is. Sh%t happens. Life is uncertain. Mystery tornados and raging gusts of wind happen all the time and toss structures about without warning or notice or deference to any of our technology. The idea of safety and control or even managing Mother Earth is an illusion. Any system, will from time to time, build up more energy than the overall system can manage and then all hell breaks loose.

I've traveled north and south and east and west across Europe on boats that until recently could NEVER have traversed the rivers in their natural form. The rivers have been channeled, dredged, and narrowed by levees and dikes. The amount of energy in those rivers is channeled and managed. But those systems can only maintain so much energy. Enough extra rain over a short amount of time will wreak havoc on anything man has made. All systems break and all attempts to fully predict them will fail. I don't know about you, but I find this thought to be both beautiful and peaceful. We are reminded that we are humble creatures whose lives at any moment can be snuffed out without any thought or deference given to our actions. Life is a gift. It isn't a certainty.

 

[BingBong]

Here’s my question.

Huge jetliners have had systems to detect weather conditions ahead for maybe fifty years.

And the same problems of turbulence have been encountered since the days of the DC-3.

But why do you occasionally read of severe turbulence on a flight at five or six miles high over the heartland?

Can’t they see that coming?

Nope. CAT or Clear Air Turbulence is an invisible thing, been under investigation for many years, facing its elusive and unpredictable nature. Happens a fair bit; if the seatbelt light comes on before you hit some, the captain got word from the flight ten miles ahead.

 

[sablebrush52]

You haven’t lived until you’ve levitated out of your seat when your plane hits clear air turbulence and drops in a free fall.
All those people screaming and I’m just focused on the singular sensation of weightlessness.

Unless you’re a bird or winged creature of some description, flying is absolutely unnatural.

So what?

Sapiens has developed artificial means for it to fly.

Driving a car requires more neural connections than a third of the population has. Be more concerned with that.

 

[Briar Lee]

Nope. CAT or Clear Air Turbulence is an invisible thing, been under investigation for many years, facing its elusive and unpredictable nature. Happens a fair bit; if the seatbelt light comes on before you hit some, the captain got word from the flight ten miles ahead.

All my life I’ve tried to learn one thing new each day reading.

Today’s new knowledge is Clear Air Turbulence. Thank you.

Clear-air turbulence - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

My wife is always suggesting to me to say I’m a global warming skeptic instead of a complete Madeline Murray O’Hare level global warming atheist.

I googled How old is earth’s atmosphere—


Earth's atmosphere is approximately 4.5 billion years old, the same age as the planet itself. It has undergone significant changes throughout Earth's history, evolving from a temporary atmosphere of hydrogen and helium to its current composition of mostly nitrogen and oxygen.

Here's a more detailed look:

• • Early Atmosphere:
    The initial atmosphere likely consisted of gases like hydrogen and helium, but these were lost due to the young Sun's intense solar wind and Earth's weak gravity, according to EBSCO Research Starters.
    
  • Outgassing:
    A more stable atmosphere formed as Earth cooled and volcanic activity released gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.
    
  • Great Oxygenation Event:
    Around 2.4 billion years ago, photosynthetic organisms like cyanobacteria began producing oxygen, significantly altering the atmosphere and leading to the Great Oxygenation Event.
    
  • Current Atmosphere:
    Today, the atmosphere is primarily composed of nitrogen and oxygen, with smaller amounts of other gases. It continues to evolve due to ongoing geological and biological processes.
    

——

I am convinced that God created the heavens and the earth and we ain’t never really gonna know exactly how or why.

 

[Briar Lee]

You haven’t lived until you’ve levitated out of your seat when your plane hits clear air turbulence and drops in a free fall.
All those people screaming and I’m just focused on the singular sensation of weightlessness.

Unless you’re a bird or winged creature of some description, flying is absolutely unnatural.

So what?

Sapiens has developed artificial means for it to fly.

Driving a car requires more neural connections than a third of the population has. Be more concerned with that.

As to driving a car.

My wife and I have visited St Louis a few times in the last few months.

In rush hour times in St Louis there are multiple ten lane highways completely full of cars running over 70 miles an hour.

Accidents happen but are exceedingly rare.

And not a one of those thousands and thousands of drivers are consciously and deliberately driving any more than we think about walking.

We ought to kill ourselves in a car wreck several times a year, you know?

 

[Gerald Boone]

A Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam was diverted to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on July 30 after encountering "significant turbulence" that resulted in 25 people being transported to hospitals, the airline said.

Medical personnel boarded the flight immediately after it landed safely at around 7:45 p.m. to evaluate those aboard, the airline said in a statement. The plane was carrying 275 passengers and a crew of 13.

Xxxxx


When I was a child in the sixties jet travel was new and our parents and teachers pushed the idea of the jet age right alongside the space age.

Those big jets have flown over five miles high at over five hundred miles an hour all my life I can remember.

Is the world losing our technical competence or is the media hungrier for jetliner accident stories?

Or is the fact the airlines can find 275 souls from Salt Lake City to fill a jet to Amsterdam, Holland mean that jet travel is so much more prevalent today that occasionally the law of averages takes over?

I’ve flown a few times when my destination was over four hundred miles away.

I kept my seat belt on and renewed my relationship with the Master.

It just ain’t natural for folks to fly that fast and high, you know?

I took a plane in 1978 it was wonderful. The plane was large and comfortable the meal, a real meal, was tasty. Getting on the plane was simple. I flew again for work starting 2021, what a change. My "package", not a package; the package, the one every man has, continually set off the scanner at TSA. Yeah, check me I understand. I felt inconvenienced and proud at the same time. Yeah you guys (my co workers) go on I have a problem you will never have. Then the plane; not the beautiful, comfortable plane I remember from 1978 but a school bus with wings awaited. No meal, just crackers. Off the plane, delayed so now I have to run, literally run, from one end of the airport in Charlotte to the other end to get on my next plane before I am left behind. Men my age don't like to run. 6 hours to wait at the next airport so the opposite problem. All the time worry that my luggage is going to Amsterdam because at this point I am struggling not to have an existential time crisis. Sorry I digress. Anyone who has ever been to the airport in Charlotte must feel an enormous number of people travel by plane. I saw more people running through the airport than I see at home in a year. So yes, granted the increased number of flights there are probably more risk for accidents. But at the same time I feel that there is a different paradigm concerning passenger management ; we, are less important now. So, probably a mix of both increased numbers which increases risk combined with less concern decreases safety. Glad to be retired; no more leaving the airport at 3 am when I was supposed to be back home at 10 pm.

 

[Briar Lee]

Another rumination on air travel.

Until the seventies the pilots of those big jets often had lots of hours of flying in air combat. And stewardesses on those big jets then would be like a girl today saying I’m a Victoria’s Secret model.

Deregulation in the eighties has lowered the cost of commercial flights and newer twin jets have cut fuel costs.

But it’s taken the romance and glamour out of flying.

Sing one, Susan Raye!

LA International Airport