Cabin Crew member causes panic

Seen across the gangway on the train this morning in a couple of tabloid newspapers, a VS cabin crew member on a flight to LAS screamed "We're going to crash" three times during a bout of clear air turbulence. The plan lost 8,000 feet of alititude.

For a link, see here. With apologies for not being bothered to find a link to the story in a decent paper.

This sounds terrifying, but given the source it may have been an 8ft drop !! :D

Oh no, the same story was in the Daily Mail (OK, I see your point).

I didn't find it in the Grauniad (my paper of choice).

[Decker]

But second choice has it.

Don't know about just the sick bags, I think I might have needed some pampers too.

I thought pilots could see really bad stuff coming anyway and avoid it?


Lets blame it on Global warming, like everything else since we can't blame the Russians for everything anymore[:I]

We had a story published a couple of weeks ago (sun) about how one of our yachts had been attacked by a great white shark, and had nearly sunk. Yeh sure!!! The really interesting thing is that the story was picked up by the "independant" last sunday, repeted almost word for word. It puts a rather different light on a paper when far from being independant it copies its stories out of the Sun. Do not believe anything you read in the papers, and it makes not odds IMHO if it is tabloid or broad sheet.

Originally posted by easygoingeezer

Lets blame it on Global warming, like everything else since we can't blame the Russians for everything anymore[:I]

Sasranidtz[}:)]

Iain

Being discussed on the Jezza Vine show as we speak.

Must have been last Friday 24th Feb flight since we were on the LAS-LGW back that day and were delayed by over an hour because the plane was being checked for damage after the turbulance (this is the normal routine after heavy turbulance I believe) I will do a TR soon but we ended up flying back further south to avoid getting stuck in it on the way back.

I think papadoc may have been on the outbound flight? Not sure if he's back yet?

S

Originally posted by Decker
But second choice has it.

Good find. This really sounds horrific. I once had a flight with what seemed like a huge dip but the thought of this makes me feel ill. I guess they can't train for this event and if someone panics then its game over for their career.

But 8000ft is so much altitude to lose, maybe the IFE was incorrect. Anyone know the Terminal velocity of a fully loaded 747?

Maybe the real reason for her screaming was that she couldn't decide who to give the steak to???[:o)]

[mitchja]

It does sounds like it was pretty horrific.

Having been through what sounds like a similar experience last year on the VS62 from NAS, all I can say is keep belted up.

Regards

{Mod Note : The following post by Wafren was moved to this thread as it adds further links to the story - Jeremy}

[:$]here's a link about the terrible turbulence that was in todays paper....[:$][:$][:$]Glad I wasn't on it as the kids wouldn't be flying home.....my little girl gets upset with the tiny turbulence on the plane from The Isle of Man!!!!![:$]

Sorry if anyone's already posted this!!![:I]


Mirror Story


here's an additional link:

ANet Discussion

[HighFlyer]

Was just adding the same Jeremy!

If you haven't read the Airliners thread do take a look - and behold some of the wonderous pearls of wisdom from our A.net friends. There are a few jibes at VS in there too, some real classic ones which bear no relation to the incident at all - still i guess if it were BA we might poke fun. Im so tempted to take up posting on there again

Thanks,
Sarah

Why does it always get very bumpy when the drinks trolley is next to me and waiting to send hot tea all over me? [?]

The routes across siberia seem really smooth. Every time I've experienced significant turbulance it has been going into LAX or SFO, must be all those mountians stirring things up.

I do enjoy listening to the Cockpit comms channel on UA flights, and have frequently heard cup throwing type turbulance described as "slight chop".

I guess it depends where you are in the plane!

To be honest most turbulance we experience as pax is slight chop, although that is not necessarily what it feels like to the pax. With the advanced systems and forecasting available, it is rare indeed for a commercial aircraft to be caught out. Remember also that all your external visual reference points have been removed, and this plays funny tricks on you. What would seem like slight bumps were the ground near by to look at, suddenly turn into stomach churning swoops when you can only see clouds and sky. Try driving along with your eyes closed (only if you are the passenger in the car!) to see how drastic this effect can be.

To be honest, one of the problems I have with this story is an 8000 drop. Not sure I really believe that to be honest.

I bet the CC member was dared to say it.

Originally posted by sailor99


To be honest, one of the problems I have with this story is an 8000 drop. Not sure I really believe that to be honest.

Mine too. Can an aircraft physically drop 8000 feet in a few seconds? I would imagine that sort of drop would cause structural damage.

Originally posted by mitchja
It does sounds like it was pretty horrific.

Having been through what sounds like a similar experience last year on the VS62 from NAS, all I can say is keep belted up.

Regards

Also went through a similar experience on a British Airways Flight from Barbados to Gatwick 4 years ago.

Without warning a huge drop due to "Clear Air Turbulance". So much so that I remember looking out of the window to see if the wing was still attached.

Not being funny, but it was the biggest advert I've ever experienced for wearing a seat belt even when the sign is off !

Not something I want to repeat but something I will remember for a very long time.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that despite all the technology, "Clear Air Turbulance" is still very difficult or near impossible to spot.

Classic example of CAT isnt it- although am surprised that no other a/c reported it- i would imagine that ATC very quickly changed the routing of all following a/c across the pond that day.

8,000 feet sounds a bit too drastic in my opinion- and i would imagine the crew were seated for an hour for safety in case any more was experienced- i cant believe if it was that bad that the crew wouldnt have asked ATC for clearence to climb or go down a flight level or two....this seems to be common practise in bad turbulence. Choice of paper has a lot to do with it as well I'm sure!

Always wear my seatbelt since departing UVF late 70's on Monarch and hitting CAT during our climb. The crew were released and it was very scary to see how high the drinks trolley can jump!

I'm sure I've read somewhere that despite all the technology, "Clear Air Turbulance" is still very difficult or near impossible to spot.

Yeah, clear air turbulance is very difficult to predict, and can also quite frighteningly happen during the early or final stages of a flight.

One quite famous incident of turbulance was a United 747 over the pacific which killed on passenger
Report HERE

I've experienced two really bad bouts. One on a CX 747 over mongolia. To me felt like the aircraft had been hit by a rocket, but the crew kept smiling from their crew seats (an annoucement had been made just before). The first one though was a 200m clear air drop on an AF 747 Classic over the Saharah. To this day I remember the feeling of pannic after seeing the overhead bins swaying and the sound as the plane came out of the fall. Unbelievable to think these things are designed for this!

I always wonder what happens to the bottles in the UC bar during turbulance... but will finally get to check the bar out next month!

[RichardMannion]

Originally posted by V-Ben

I always wonder what happens to the bottles in the UC bar during turbulance... but will finally get to check the bar out next month!

I was sat at the bar (complete with the Mixologist and two crew) on the outbound flight (via SFO) to the Las Vegas Social event last November, we started to hit turbulence so I and the two crew held onto the glasses on the bar, which was a good thing as the plane dropped suddenly a few seconds later. It was unsafe to return to our seats, so we stayed at the bar with our feet gripping under the foot rests. Pix on the other hand was doing a tour of duty down in Economy, and had to take a seat down there for 30 minutes.

8000ft is a lot, but I am guessing that the member of crew was a recent recruit as I have never witnessed a crew react like that before when going through turbulence.

Thanks,
Richard

Originally posted by V-Ben


One quite famous incident of turbulance was a United 747 over the pacific which killed on passenger
Report HERE

This report shows what happened with a loss of 100ft in altitude.....[:0]

Originally posted by sailor99
... What would seem like slight bumps were the ground near by to look at, suddenly turn into stomach churning swoops when you can only see clouds and sky.

With an 8000ft drop I think I'd be rather glad that the ground wasn't near by to look at!

I must admit I quite enjoy turbulance, and like to sit down the back to maximise the thrill ride... Though watching the amount of flex in the fuselage of a 346 from down the back can be a little sobering!

[Decker]

BBC's turn