Singapore flight turbulence tragedy

Try using Bach Rescue Remedy, a herbal spray that takes the edge of anxiety, certainly helps me (frightened - very - of heights). Available from Boots and chemists. Good luck.

OP check out turbi.com

ir estimates turbulence on each flight and you can find your future flight on there, see how severe it is likely to be, plan accordingly etc

Keep your seat belt on.

The people flying around the cabin and getting injured or dying did not.

The standard advice for every single passenger is keep your seat belt loosely fastened. Because like all longhaul flights which fly at a higher altitude there's always a 1 in a million risk of a sudden deep drop.

In the 80's there were two major incidents - one death and one broken back.

I wouldn't worry so much with shorthaul - Europe.

They have smaller aircraft and fly at lower levels.

It's the Atlantic and particularly the Pacific ocean you have to mostly worry about.

Mostly the Pacific. No one asks for weather forecasts in the middle of the Pacific, except for scientists, the military and aviators.

The oceans have bigger weather, that rarely troubles land masses.

Are you in the industry? What is your view on the stuff about the Boeing whistleblowers? I confess I haven’t paid much attention to the detail but I know it’s been in the news recently. Is it media exaggeration as usual?

I am genuinely interested in the view of anyone who knows about this stuff. I hope you didn’t mean me when you said people are taking bollocks as I am keen to learn the facts.

Just flew the same route. We’ve had the belts for an hour around that area as it was still a bit bumpy with turbulences

He probably died of fright, poor bloke

It must have been very scary, but planes are designed to cope with severe turbulence and this one did. It landed safely.
Only one person died - of a heart attack. He may well have had a heart attack anyway.

How is that even slightly relevant in this situation? It does not matter what make of Jet you are in. If you hit major turbulence it will be thrown about regardless.

Another very nervous flyer here. Got slightly better over the years. Due to fly this route with Singapore Airlines in a few months and I know it will be on my mind. Always have my seatbelt on apart from toilet trips. I know it’s very very rare and still the safest form of travel so I try to focus on that. Always need a couple of drinks to relax me.

Poor man and his family. Sounds like they were embarking on a lovely retirement trip. Hope all the injured recover.

I have flown around the globe many times, and spent more days than I can count on flights LHR to SIN with Singapore Air. I am also someone who hates flying.

However in this instance the key point is the plane was fine. It landed fine. The pilots were fine. This poor man lost his life tragically, and as a result of the event in question, but not because of reasons that apply to you. Of the others who are badly injured, many will have been not buckled in.

If you are buckled in whenever you are in your seat, the chance of having severe clear air turbulence when you are nipping to the loo is very low.

This has not increased by fear of flying, and I find it rather reassuring.

I never take my lap belt off, apparently those with lap belts still fastened were ok.

What really bloody annoys me is all those twats that take their belts of at landing before the sign comes on, and are pissing about getting their shit out of the overhead lockers!

Yes amazing, I always hugely respect crew for seeming so composed. It’s probably all in a days work but..

After the turbulence you have to admire they’ve got themselves together to get everyone back to their seats, prepare for landing and also look after those who were injured, of course the chap who died too. Huge respect.

It shows you how steely the pilot’s nerves need to be to register the drop and respond immediately with no pause for shock.

We’ve been in an air drop with Singapore coming back from Bali in to Changi. It was very sudden, and the whole plane just went silent. You expect screams but absolute silence. After a few minutes the pilot came on and said we were in the wake of a plane in front and it caused us to hit clear air.

Luckily no one was hurt just a bit dazed. Flown loads since but now I do hypnosis before hand and take meds.

I guess the Boeing naysayers were bound to pitch in at some point.

For once I can’t be arssed to provide a long explanation - One look at the 777s safety record, and survival rates in the very very few serious accidents it has had will show a load of bollocks is being talked by some of those above.

Based on what exactly?

Bollocks

On a separate note, there have been issues with Boeing recently. Some whistle-blowers from the company have been badly treated I understand.

I think yesterday’s issue was due to turbulence. But I have wondered for many years how few plane crashes we thankfully have. And I hope that standards remain high and there is no complacency. Some reports suggest Boeing has not been prioritising safety. Now that would be a bigger concern for safety for me than a sudden bout of turbulence.

Waht? All of them?

I don't think you get much choice over which plane your airline chooses to put you on.

After reading the first post on this thread yesterday evening I kept my seatbelt on for the entire flight. It was a bit bumpy and the seat belt light came on. I expect the pilot was being extra cautious after yesterday's news.

We had a bumpy landing in low visibility as well, but all was fine.

I have never done a 14 hour flight and doubt I ever will but if I go out for the day I can go 12/13 hours without going to the loo. I drink quite a bit too (tea, coffee and/or water).

My bladder just seems to shut down when I am not at home. At home I go about every 5 hours

Boeing planes are dangerous

One tragic death in flight makes the global news whereas road traffic death would only make the local news on a slow news day - I think this tells you a lot about the relative safety.

I worked as cabin crew ages ago. Anyone who gets nervous in turbulence might like what one of our captains used to tell passengers when a flight turned bumpy: ‘Nothing at all to worry about - it’s just like driving over cobblestones.’
You could see people visibly relaxing - the super-tight grips on the armrests loosening.

Though having said that, as they usually tell you anyway - always keep your seatbelt fastened while seated!

Unfortunately BBC Radio 4 was still peddling the 6 thousand foot drop twattery this morning.

Ah I hadn’t seen any of the clarification. It did seem an incredible drop…