Airlines by now should be benefiting from both meteorological forecasts of atmospheric turbulence and today’s actionable intelligence about the real-time effects of that turbulence on large commercial jets. Unfortunately, say several turbulence-detection pioneers in the United States, the industry is still missing a key piece — enough airline participation — needed to accelerate progress in reducing, if not eliminating, unexpected encounters with in-flight turbulence. Such encounters still take a steady toll in injuries and, in the rarest cases, fatalities.
In February, specialists from American Airlines, WSI Corporation and AeroTech Research briefed ASW about their perspectives of related technology, experiences of pilots and dispatchers, and lessons learned in this safety quest while gaining operational efficiencies as air traffic grows.
