With the winter season bidding good bye, fog takes a backseat from North India and reduces flight delays in India but the aviation industry still remains affected. So here’s a curtain raiser for aviation hazard faced in the month of March.
Turbulence- A Grey area among aviation hazards
As winter recedes comes the month of March, which otherwise a benign month with no fog, clouds or rain, sees a lot of turbulence in the air. Anyone who's had a couple of flight journeys must have had at least one bumpy ride when the airplane could have rolled from side to side and bounced up and down. This is called turbulence which is an invisible manifestation unlike fog and clouds or thunderstorms. It has deceptive characteristics and therefore difficult to forecast, says Skymet's Meteorology Division in India.
Reasons for Turbulence
Turbulence could be due to undulated terrain and strong winds. These strong winds are more prominent over the northern parts. No airplane flies below 30,000 feet and the winds become stronger at such high levels. These high speed winds cause a lot of turbulence, raising the anxiety level of passengers while travelling over difficult terrain. Clear-air turbulence can take place in calm skies when a mass of air moving at a particular speed meets another mass of air at a different speed. The only precaution for airplane operators is to avoid the area and the cure is to leave the area.
Turbulence in the atmosphere is virtually invisible to pilots. Efforts are being taken to make it visible, so that some aviation accidents and related injuries could be avoided. Pilots are aware that turbulence can occur during thunderstorms and in the peaks of mountains. But it is difficult to predict clear air turbulence.
