Turbulence...

[Old Hippie]

O.k. Time I enlighten you all here. Turbulance is a scam! There is no such thing. Allow me to explain. Several years back, the airlines got greedy and decided the best way to make a profit was not by offering a quality product at a good rate, but rather to cut salaries and benifits of the employees, thus assuring big bonuses for the asshole CEO at the top. In an attempt to maintain a standard of living, the pilots developed "turbulence." They shook the plane, causing drinks and food to spill and peiople to vomit and shit themselves. Thus the flying waitressesmwould need to give better service, grateful passangers would of course leave a tip. The Pilots who now stand by the door also have a bucket with "tips appreciated" on it. They are not standing there to thank you, rather to remember you face, should they see a large group of known tippers get on board, they would then shake the plane in hopes of getting more tips. Hope this information is helpful.

[the_numbers]

Screw tipping... I think airlines should just give out sedatives Even in 1st class the whole affair of ocean crossing and etcetera with bad entertainment and the odour of heated food is not appealing.

 

I usually get sideways on downers and alcohol and have to concentrate to hand my passport to the lady collecting ticket stubs. I am out within an hour and occassionally have slept through violent turbulence.

 

If we are going down I figure -- why worry. I'll die in a bloody coma

 

the_numbers

[torrenova]

On a flight from Barbados to the Uk some years ago on a 747 we were just getting the food when we hit an almighty air pocket. Trolleys hit the room, the stewardesses were being held down by other passengers and those who had been served had their food thrown everywhere. The pilot never seemed to lose control but we lost several a hell of a lot of height very quickly.

 

Reminds me of a concorde story. one time, they lost so much height before they could reignight the engines that a normal plane would have hit the deck. As they flew much higher, they were OK.

[Guest]

Use to fly with a medical doctor. He flew because it was the thing to do - he loved to brag. I flew because I loved the thrill of the ride. He would fly straight and not to fast. I would fly in which way I felt. Sometimes, just to see how scared he could get, I would try doing some of the acrobatic stuff. No matter whatever I did, he would never say he was scared but the front of his pants, the wet spot always told a different story.

 

When I fly commercial flights, I sometimes fall asleep before the plane leaves the airport.

[shygye]

[color:"green"] SHe was on a infamous flight ( united airlines) inwhich 2 people were killed as the plane hit an air pocket and fell out of the sky for 10,000ft. Luckily the pilot SAVED it. but she could not get back on a plane. [/color]

 

I looked up the incident on the NTSB website. The plane did not fall 10,000 ft. In fact the altitude changed very little. From the report,

 

The flight data recorder, a Sundstrand Data Control model, indicated that while the aircraft was cruising at flight level 310, it experienced a positive 1.814 G vertical acceleration excursion. Six seconds later, the aircraft sustained a negative 0.824 G vertical acceleration. The aircraft subsequently rolled approximately 18 degrees right wing down and recovered to wings level flight shortly thereafter. During these events, altitude excursions were nominal.

[Old Hippie]

Which flight was that and when? I seem to recall something about it, but can't find details... Some of these pilots are amazing in what they can do in a crisis, the best of the lot was the dude who landed that one in Souix city Iowa...something like 50 other flight crews were put in a simulator, and all crashed...talk about having the "right stuff" "god as your co pilot" and a hell of a lot of luck...

[Guest]

I look at it like this.....How many 747's have dropped out of the sky due to turbulance? None...that I know of.

 

I saw last night, that the 'equivalant' of 1/4 of the worlds population have flown in a 747 (1.5 billion people). Also remember seeing that if you were to take an arbitrary flight once a day, anywhere in the world, it would take you 3,000 years to pick a fatal flight (not just 747's) ::

 

Something like 150,000 take-off's for all aircraft, in just the US alone, daily. Much safer than taking your car across town, to be sure. A 747 is designed to take an 'incredible' amount of abuse. A proven workhorse, that I have great faith in, at least when dealing with turbulence.

 

Landings and take-off's are the danger periods, due mostly to pilot error/mechanical failure. Once they are up there, it is safer than watching TV in your house, and getting clipped by a drive-by shooting.

 

HT

[BelgianBoy]

HIGH THAIED said:

Something like 150,000 take-off's for all aircraft, in just the US alone, daily.

 

Hum.... are we not bragging a bit here.....

Any chance to back up this large statement ????

 

BB

[Guest]

Hi BB,

 

Nothing to brag about. I don't own the airlines.

 

Last night I happened to be watching the "history" channel on cable, and they happened to have a program on 747's. I was working on my com, but heard this in the background. I could be wrong. My point was though, that the number of flights per day, around the world, is staggering. They only mentioned US, but you can imagine, from this, what the total world-wide totals must be. The US in only one country, of many.

 

Point was, being taken out of the sky in a 747, due to turbulence, is a 1 in a million chance, type of deal. The odds are very remote, in the extreme. Like I said, I've never heard of a 747 crashing due to only tubulence. Maybe someone here knows different.

 

HT

[BelgianBoy]

HT,

 

150,000 take-offs a day, average 150 passengers, thats over 22 million passengers a day, total population in the US being what ? 270 million ? thats like 8 % of the whole population daily in the air..........

And 2 % are passport-holders.....

 

Still bragging to me, or wrong figures IMO.

 

BB