Turbulence on BA378 to Toulouse
Feb 9, 2016, 2:07 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 56
Turbulence on BA378 to Toulouse
Just curious if any of the BAEC crowd were on today's LHR-TLS flight?
Isolated patch of very extreme turbulence, with medical assistance waiting on arrival at Toulouse. I've flown professionally for a number of years and can only relate the sensation to flying through mountain wave. Very unusual, and not something often encountered!
Anyway, well done to the crew, it was well handled - hope you're all in one piece!
Isolated patch of very extreme turbulence, with medical assistance waiting on arrival at Toulouse. I've flown professionally for a number of years and can only relate the sensation to flying through mountain wave. Very unusual, and not something often encountered!
Anyway, well done to the crew, it was well handled - hope you're all in one piece!
Feb 9, 2016, 2:14 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
It was bumpy on the 716 to ZRH this afternoon (your flight was not much later) midway during the flight, when I believe after we changed heading after Paris towards Basel. The pilot did mention that it would be bumpy as there was "localised interesting weather systems in the Belgian vicinity".
Certainly no requirement for medical assistance on arrival...
Certainly no requirement for medical assistance on arrival...
Feb 9, 2016, 2:16 pm
#3
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Yeah, we have a bad turbulence over Atlantic Ocean. I have to stay in the seated. It was bumpy flight. I was on my flight. I flew out PHL-LHR FLT#66 last night.
Feb 9, 2016, 2:16 pm
#4
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ASI, welcome to Flyertalk and the BA forum. It's good to see you here, and still in one piece it would appear. I hope that you will continue to participate here and can continue to contribute. I can't help much with the question but I think there have been a few green gilled flights of late, at least reported elsewhere.
Feb 9, 2016, 2:59 pm
#5
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The Jeppesen charts gives you an idea of how bumpy it is in the area. Most of South Europe is in moderate 
Not a lot of smooth flights out there I am afraid.
This is actually the forecast of 10 Feb at 0600Z but should be representative of how it was today.
Not a lot of smooth flights out there I am afraid. This is actually the forecast of 10 Feb at 0600Z but should be representative of how it was today.
Feb 9, 2016, 3:24 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2014
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fransknorge those charts do give a good approximation, but tend to be a little on the cautious side. Often they'll show moderate turbulence and in reality pilots aren't reporting anything to us in ATC. You'll find people's view on severity also differs largely from nationality to nationality, with Americans generally being the most cautious and sensitive to less than smooth air.
Feb 9, 2016, 6:29 pm
#11
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Feb 9, 2016, 6:46 pm
#13
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I had some epic turbulence yesterday crossing northern Canada on the way to JFK on the 113. We had people screaming, vomiting etc. The captain tried about 4 different heights to no avail. Looking at the jet stream charts from yesterday it seems we crossed the worst of it at the worst time, it wasn't all that fun.
Feb 9, 2016, 6:55 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 56
bwaflyer: Thanks for the follow-up; I didn't realise the crew had been so affected. In which case especially well done to them, as the pre-landing wrap up and following unload were very well handled.
In a former career I used to flight test large aircraft for a certain OEM, and have been strapped in for and witnessed everything up to aircraft of a similar size departing from controlled flight. The turbulence encountered today probably fitted moderate on the classical scale (subjective guess of course!); what was unusual was the intensity and duration. A good few seconds of sustained positive-G (pushing in to seat/floor), followed by a longer period of negative-G, with a lot of roll activity coming over the top. Definitely not the usual convective type turbulence, and much more characteristic of flying through a mountain wave or similar.
I should think the aircraft will require a cursory overload examination!
In a former career I used to flight test large aircraft for a certain OEM, and have been strapped in for and witnessed everything up to aircraft of a similar size departing from controlled flight. The turbulence encountered today probably fitted moderate on the classical scale (subjective guess of course!); what was unusual was the intensity and duration. A good few seconds of sustained positive-G (pushing in to seat/floor), followed by a longer period of negative-G, with a lot of roll activity coming over the top. Definitely not the usual convective type turbulence, and much more characteristic of flying through a mountain wave or similar.
I should think the aircraft will require a cursory overload examination!
Feb 9, 2016, 7:25 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2009
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No thanks!
I had some epic turbulence yesterday crossing northern Canada on the way to JFK on the 113. We had people screaming, vomiting etc. The captain tried about 4 different heights to no avail. Looking at the jet stream charts from yesterday it seems we crossed the worst of it at the worst time, it wasn't all that fun.