Improvements in the forecasting and reporting of turbulence encounters could yield a significant reduction in the number of turbulence-related injuries to passengers and, especially, flight attendants, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
In recent years, turbulence-related accidents have been more frequent than any other accident type, accounting for more than one-third of all accidents involving U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 121 air carrier accidents in the United States, the NTSB says. Most of these accidents involved serious injuries but no damage to the airplane.
“The majority of injuries occurred below 20,000 feet in the vicinity of thunderstorms, so it’s critically important for both passengers and flight attendants to be seated with their seat belts fastened in those conditions,” NTSB Acting Chair Bruce Landsberg said last week (Aug. 10), as the board approved a safety research report1 that included a p…
