Where in the world is prone to turbulence like Singapore and Qatar planes?

Scientists reveal the factors behind the turbulence that caused Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Qatar Airways planes to crash.

Severe turbulence is believed to be the cause of the deadly incident and injured dozens of people on SIA flight SQ321 on May 21, as well as many injuries on SIA flight QF17. Qatar Airways on May 26.

Which areas are susceptible to turbulence?

Image from inside SIA's plane experiencing turbulence - (Photo: X).

Talking to The Guardian, Dr. Guido Carim Jr, head of the Griffith School of Aviation at Griffith University (USA), said turbulence most easily occurs over high mountains, oceans, the equator and when entering the sea. jet streams.

However, "clear sky" turbulence (CAT) - often caused by very sudden changes in wind direction - can occur anywhere and at any time.

That's the type of turbulence investigators suspect SIA encountered.

Dr. Carim, who is also a former pilot, said that extremely complex factors interact to create turbulence, like forest fires.

Radar technology to detect turbulence is improving, but currently, pilots still cannot predict with complete accuracy where and when this phenomenon will occur .

High humidity and temperature tend to make turbulence stronger. Therefore, routes such as from London - England to New York City - USA in the summer months may be "bumpier" than flying the same route in December.

Qatar Airways' Boeing 787 Dreamliner was performing flight QF17 from Doha to Dublin when it encountered turbulence in Turkish airspace - (Photo: X).

The most turbulent flight routes in the world

Turbli Sweden's turbulence forecast scale uses data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Meteorological Office, and has reviewed the top turbulences in the world this year. 2023.

It is Santiago (Chile) to Santa Cruz (Bolivia); Almaty (Kazakhstan) to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan); Lanzhou to Chengdu (China); Chubu to Sendai (Japan); Milan (Italy) to Geneva (Switzerland); Milan to Zurich (Switzerland).

According to the site, the countries with the most turbulence in the air in April are French Polynesia, Fiji, Pakistan, Namibia and Uruguay.

Meanwhile, the South Pacific Ocean is the world's leading sea in terms of turbulence.

Figures from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau show that globally in 2023 there will be 3,047 commercial aircraft incidents. Of those, 236 were due to weather. From the beginning of 2024 until now, there have been 790 commercial aircraft incidents, of which 52 were due to weather.

Is there a connection between the Qatar Airways incident and SIA?

Meteorologist Milton Speer from the University of Technology Sydney (Australia) said QF17 and SQ321 were thousands of kilometers apart when they encountered severe turbulence and there were no signs of any obvious atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon connecting the two. case.

Mr Speer also spoke to pilots who had flown in both areas in recent days and were told they 'saw nothing unusual'.

However, there is still a connection. The occurrence of disturbances is increasing by 55% between 1979 and 2020 and is expected to continue to increase. The climate crisis is believed to be one of the causes.

Experts and people in the aviation industry say that wearing a seat belt in turbulence-prone areas and even throughout the flight is the way to stay safe.