An Expert’s Guide to Surviving Extreme Plane Turbulence
News that a 73-year-old man died and seven others were critically injured when wild turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday is the stuff of most fliers’ nightmares. Couple that with the fact climate change is making turbulence more common and severe and it’s enough to make even frequent fliers a little anxious.
Flying is statistically safer than ever (the odds of dying in a plane crash are about one in 11 million, making the taxi ride to the airport far more dangerous) and deaths caused by turbulence are exceedingly rare. In fact, authorities said the 73-year-old British man likely died from a heart attack during the terrifying episode.
That said, there are some precautionary measures passengers can take in case their flight gets particularly bumpy. Here are experts’ top tips for surviving turbulence.