An Australian passenger, center, who was injured on a flight that was battered by severe turbulence, talks to reporters at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday, May 23, 2024. The airline’s Flight SQ321 was flying from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore when it hit turbulence on May 21, bashing people around inside the plane. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


TOKYO — Turbulence is on the rise worldwide, with a recent case of violent turbulence resulting in the death of a passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight, and Japan has seen its share of the phenomenon, too.


Injuries in aisles, washrooms


Of 67 incidents on large airliners between 2004 and 2023 investigated by the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), 37, or 55%, were caused by turbulence. A total of 118 people, including 62 passengers and 56 crew, were injured in these incidents. Of these, 18 passengers and 26 crew sustained major injuries. Among the seriously injured, 10 passengers were in areas without seatbelts, such as aisles and washrooms, and 24 crew members were in aisles or preparing food and other items in the galley.


On the Singapore Airlines flight on May 21, more than 70 people were injured in addition to the 73-year-old British man who died. Because breakfast was being served when turbulence hit the Singapore Airlines plane, it’s reported that coffee spilled wildly and utensils were tossed into the air.


According to the JTSB, airline companies are crafting measures for passenger safety, such as no longer serving hot beverages. In the JTSB investigations over the 20-year span, there was just one record of a burn injury.

This image from the Japan Transport Safety Board’s 44th digest shows where large airliners have had incidents of turbulence. Since they’ve occurred over a wide area from northeast Japan to the southwestern Nansei Islands, the report contended that the phenomenon can arise “anywhere.”


Significant increase in clear air turbulence predicted


There are multiple types of turbulence, but the kinds responsible for around 70% of incidents in the survey were in-cloud turbulence influenced by cumulonimbus clouds and clear air turbulence encountered in areas without cloud cover.


Clear air turbulence in particular is hard to detect since it cannot be seen and does not show up on radar. Global warming is also being pointed to as a factor behind a global rise in its occurrence. Professor Paul Williams of the University of Reading in Britain predicts that the mid-latitudes, which includes Japan, will see a significant increase of the phenomenon.


A JTSB official offered these points of advice:


— Assume that the plane will shake.


— Keep your seatbelt fastened low at your waist.


— Avoid using the washroom as much as possible during the flight.


— If shaking occurs when you’re in an aisle, get into a low position and hold onto an armrest.


(Japanese original by Sumire Kunieda, Digital News Group)

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