The Singapore Airlines turbulence incident that has sadly left one person dead and others hospitalized has made many of us think about the risks of air travel. We'll hear more in coming days about how the aircraft came to drop so suddenly on its route from London to Singapore earlier this week, injuring passengers and crew, before making an emergency landing in Thailand. But thankfully, these types of incidents are rare , and much less-common than injuries from other types of transport.
So why do we sometimes think the risk of getting injured while traveling by plane is higher than it really is? Turbulence is caused by the irregular movement of air, leading to passengers and crew experiencing abrupt sideways and vertical jolts. In the case of the Singapore Airlines flight, this type of turbulence is thought to be a severe example of " clear-air turbulence ", which can occur without warning. There are several other types.
About 25 in-flight turbulence injuries are reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau each year, although it is thought many more are un-reported. Some of these reported injuries are serious, including broken bones and head injuries . Passengers being thrown up and out of their seat during turbulence is one of the most common type of head injury on a plane.
Other injuries from turbulence are caused by contact with flying laptops, or other unsecured items. In one example of clear-air turbulence that came without warning, cabin crew, passengers and meal.
