NTSB Holds Public Meeting on Reducing Turbulence In-Flight Operations

The NTSB held a public meeting on Tuesday, August 10th, recommending that the FAA, National Weather Service and airline industry associations take the recommended actions to reduce the incidence of turbulence-related injuries in flight operations. In recent years turbulence caused more than one third of air carrier accidents, making it the most prevalent of all air carrier accidents.

“Pilot reports of turbulence conditions are a tremendous help to both pilots and forecasters to predict and avoid hazardous turbulence and subsequent injuries,” says NTSB Acting Chairman Bruce Landsberg (pictured). “The majority of injuries occurred beow 20,000 feet in the vicinity of thunderstorms so it’s critically important for both passengers and flight attendants to be seated with their seat belts fastened in those conditions.”

Flight attendants account for almost 80 percent of turbulence-related injuries, as the job requires them to move around in-flight without being seated and wearing the safety belt.

Investigators said that a recommended action for the FAA is to update and renovate the systems used to collect and share turbulence reports, with the goal of increasing the available information to all national airspace users.

Additional suggestions according to the report advise the FAA and NWS to work together on the improvement of the NWS turbulence forecasting products by including more specific graphical forecasting; focusing on smaller areas of coverage.

A new product was highlighted in the study, a turbulence nowcast, that provides updates for potential turbulence every 15 minutes. The NTSB recommends full implementation and use in the National Airspace System, and advised air carriers that in cases where turbulence can not be avoided to put focus on mitigating injuries to passengers and crew members.

A full safety research report is expected to be available in the coming weeks.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/