Turbulence is always a hazard when travelling via air. While most of the time it just proves to be a minor inconvenience, sometimes the magnitude of the turbulence is such that it can become much more than just an inconvenience and develop into a safety hazard for the people on board an airplane.
Such severe turbulence was faced by an ALK Airlines flight en route Switzerland from Kosovo on Sunday. The plane shook so hard that it caused one flight attendant’s cart to spill and threw him into the ceiling of the Boeing 737 after a sharp drop in the altitude of the plane. The cart’s contents went spilling everywhere and some passengers were reportedly scalded due to the hot water from the cart.
All of this was captured in a disturbing 30-second video in which passengers can be seen trying to protect themselves and praying as the plane judders forcefully.
According to a spokesperson for EuroAirport, 10 passengers were injured during the incident and had to be transported to hospital for receiving treatment. Reports say that even though turbulence was expected during the flight, it went ahead as scheduled anyway, owing to the fact that turbulence is usually a harmless factor during flights.
Turbulence is one of the most unpredictable phenomena that pilots have to deal with during flights. It is caused by irregular motion of air resulting from eddies and vertical currents, leading to irregular motion of the plane itself. The magnitude of the turbulence can range from a view annoying bumps to something much more dangerous, as can be seen in the above video. Turbulence is classified as light, moderate, severe or extreme, with extreme turbulence capable of causing structural damage to airplanes. Safety regulations during flights always take turbulence into account but the passengers themselves have to be careful as well during such incidents, in addition to the staff acting responsibly.
