Posted on 02/17/2014 8:29:59 PM PST by NYer
Wikipedia/skinnylawyer
This plane is similar to the aircraft that hit a pocket of violent turbulence enroute from Denver, Colo. to Billings, Mont. on February 17, 2013.
A United Airlines flight on its way to Billings, MO encountered severe turbulence on its descent, injuring three crew members and several passengers. The Boeing 737 carrying 114 passengers departed from Denver at 11:57 a.m. on Monday and landed at 1:23 p.m.
Several people were rushed to area hospitals.
At least one person remains in critical condition while 5 have been treated and released.
"At the time of the incident, skies over the Intermountain West were partly cloudy but winds were howling over southern Montana and northern Wyoming," said weather.com meteorologist Alan Raymond. "The plane likely encountered what's known as "clear air turbulence" which is hard to pick up on the aircraft's on-board radar."
(MORE: Pilots Who Landed at Wrong Airport Confused by Lights)
The Weather Channel spoke with one passenger who had a terrifying experience onboard. Ejay Oldbull was seated in the back of the plane but had a front row seat to the incident. Oldbull, a frequent flier, said he hadn't ever felt turbulence like this before.
"At first the turbulence was like a jarring up and down, but when we started going left to right that's when I knew something was wrong," he said.
Oldbull says the pitching and yawing of the plane caused the oxygen masks to drop, and sent the unbuckled passenger beside him to the floor to the ceiling. "She just started going up and down when we dropped."
Also caught in the fray, a flight attendant that Oldbull says he could hear "flying around in the back of the cabin."
(MORE: Plane Gets Stuck in the Snow in Kansas City)
As the plane leveled out, Oldbull said people were visibly shaken. He heard one man ask, "Where's my my baby?" Luckily, the baby was safe in his mother's arms.
Oldbull and other passengers, one of whom was a nurse, attended to injured passengers and flight attendants through the remainder of the flight.
Injures from clear air turbulence aren't all that common, but it's a reminder to stay buckled up for the duration of your flight.
My dad was a seasoned ATP pilot and he and I alone were flying his Twin Commanche from Indianapolis to Detroit one winter night, IFR.
Controllers had us holding in a pattern at a major airway between Chicago and Detroit in the middle of a thunderstorm, about 11,000 feet.
It was tearing us up. 2,000’ drops and climbs in a second, throws both left and right. Dad was barking out to me commands re: radio settings, transponder settings, etc. The look on his face was almost one of shear terror - one I’d never seen before even though we’d been in some tough situations before and I’d been his co-pilot for 12 years. We weren’t in an airliner, but a tiny private plane. Of course, we were both tightly belted.
But after maybe 20 minutes holding in the storm, Dad finally called control and said, “You’ve gotta get us out of this or we’ll break up....”
They did, and we soon landed safely in Detroit - to pick up my girlfriend.
As soon as we got out of the plane on the ground, sweat still on his brow, Dad said, “I never want to go through that again as long as I live...” The flight back to Naptown was crystal clear and a beautiful starry night as the front had moved through - coulda been VFR.....
And this is a pilot who once lost all power on a take-off due to hydraulic failure to pitch control on the constant speed prop, with hydraulic oil covering the windshield so he could only see out the side window. Yet he was able to do a no-power return to the runway and land safely.
Wave cloud.
I was in a similar experience in a 737 flying from Dallas to Newport News in the 90s. Shortly after takeoff, in april, we encountered a sudden lurching up and down. Flight attendant was moving the cart up the aisle, it fell back into her and knocked her against the rear of the plane causing her to lose sensation below the neck. We did a medical emergency landing in Shreveport, barely long enough for that plane, she was removed, an attendant from another airline volunteered to handle the safety duties of the missing attendant and we blasted off barely out of that short runway airport. I never heard how she fared from the injury.
Looks like Peeps.
Wow, that’s a heck of a dad, to make that landing.
I don’t like flying at all anymore.
Last time I flew my handglider, some wing spars came out somehow. It was weird because I had checked them all, the cord holding them in snapped.
I was a flight attendant for over 20 years. You would not believe how many times I had to tell MEN to fasten their seatbelt when we were going through turbulence or getting ready to hit unstable areas. Oh, they sure showed me when they would unfasten it when I was gone.
Turbulence is invisible and we would hit it going about 600 miles an hour. I have been severely injured from clear air turbulence, dropping 1000 feet and bouncing between the floor and ceiling.
“about seat belts....the other thing I do is I never use the airplane br...I’m always buckled up....of course I watch what I drink so I don’t have to go to the br....”
You and I would make good traveling buddies ;)
Prayers lifted for that last passenger involved : /
Tatt
We were landing in Jacksonville, Fla, don’t know what happened but the plane was slamming on the brakes like crazy, the plane skidded sideways quite a bit books and other objects started flying around the cabin. It was dead silent, no one uttered a word then suddenly some guy yells, “Captain! Just hit him, hit the effing squirrel. By that time things had settled down and the entire cabin started hysterically laughing.
Wow, that is QUITE the experience! Pass the Lorazepam, please!
Sounds you will NEVER forget it. What do they say about "no atheists in fox holes"? I'd say the same about flying in heavy turbulence.
I decided last year that I won't be going to anywhere beyond the USA and Canada anymore. I really have had enough of long distance flying.
Learning to utilize a large stance is critical to passenger flight safety.
I was on a flight coming up the east coast of Florida once, and we had people fly out of their seats and smash against the overhead, and two people had to be taken off on stretchers.
I keep my seatbelt on all the time in planes when I am not going to the head...
Did you ever fly into Stapleton? That was a scary airport.
I used to go out to the airport while stationed at Lowry so I could watch approaches. I was waiting for a crash.
Saw some close go-arounds.
The rotor is distinct from the lenticulars. The wave clouds themselves are not violent and are the best source of lift for mountain wave soaring.
In a way turbulence is good news. It means you are moving forward and have lift(at least that is what I keep telling myself). Airlines have done a pretty good job changing routes and altitude to avoid these problems somewhat. I wonder how long the severe turbulence lasted? Sometimes it is only a couple huge bumps and then back to smooth. Those are the ones that get ya.
The rotor cloud is a bear.
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