Yesterday's Singapore Airlines' Fatal Turbulence Encounter - Updated

The location of the 777 about one minute after the encounter. The bright white clouds are thunderstorms.


At 3:07am (CDT) yesterday, a Singapore Airlines 777 enroute from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence during which (per FlightAware data) the plane suddenly dropped about a -- get this -- half-mile. One person died and dozens were injured and hospitalized in Bangkok -- the city where the plane diverted. 

There are media reports attempting to tie the incident to "clear air turbulence" (the air wasn't clear! -- see above) so the scientists can then attempt to tie the incident to --  you guessed it -- global warming ("is there anything it can't do?!").

I'd like to provide information that makes much more meteorological sense. You will find an explanation at Dr. Cliff Mass' blog, here. Meteorologist Simon Proud has presented an animation of the 777's flight path and you can see where it passes through the thunderstorms. It is available here. The above still image came from that animation. 

Clearly, this was an encounter with a thunderstorm. And, while the thunderstorm grew very quickly, perhaps making it difficult to anticipate, airplanes should never fly through them. I have read the U.S. NTSB has been asked to assist local investigators, which will be helpful. I'm looking forward to reading their report, which will likely take months of work to produce, to see what can be done to prevent these incidents in the future. 

P.S. [5:15pm Wednesday] I'm sorry to report The Wall Street Journal has fallen into the "climate change alarmist" category on this topic. Three excerpts (both quotations):
  • The frequency of such accidents is likely to increase as a result of climate change, aviation experts and officials said.
  • “This should be a wake-up call for industry, for regulators,” said Hassan Shahidi, president and chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation, an advocacy group that has warned that changing weather patterns are likely to increase the frequency and scale of turbulence. [editorial: How does being an aviation expert make you an expert in the future of the climate? I checked his bio and he has zero education or experience in climate]
  • Do we need to consider having access to helmets, especially if there are things that fly all around and fall from the ceiling?” she said in an interview Wednesday. 
Even though AccuWeather -- correctly -- talks about thunderstorms, the WSJ article brings in mountain waves (no), jet streams (no) but then says that thunderstorms "might" have "played a role." As you can see from the animation at the purple link, the pilots flew right through thunderstorms. There's no "if" about it!

Comments

  1. Thanks for addressing this, as the sort of topic at which you are great

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the most impossible webpage to fight through. I know ad money is cool. But this is like waiting an hour for a table at a restaurant only to find a peanut on your plate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know what the complain is. "A peanut on your plate." Are you unhappy with the content or length of this post?

      Or are you unhappy with the number of ads? There are supposed to be zero popup ads or ads that cover the page. Are you seeing those? Please be more specific. Thank you.

      Delete
    2. Try looking at your site on a handheld or desktop. In both instances the results are the same with endless ads and popups constantly interrupting the flow of your content.
      With the ads too often undermining your, what I would think is, desired professional reputation.
      That you apparently do not see the problems strikes as tone deafness

      Delete
    3. I use both an MacBook and a brand new iPhone. I see no popups on either browser on the MacBook and no ads at all on the iPhone. None. I do see lots of non-popup ads on the MacBook but they are mostly in the margins. It is definitely not tone-deafness.

      What systems are you using?

      Delete
    4. Same…with latest iOS and macOS Sonoma

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The East Coast Severe Weather Threat is Over

Today's Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Outlook - 9:30pm

Updated Freezing Rain and Heavy Rain Forecast