david55

Just reading the above makes my adrenalin go off..

Globaliser

Well, you did ask!

Fortunately, you're extreeeeeemely unlikely to get anything more than light turbulence - if you even get any of that.

david55

Aircraft may be momentarily out of control

That did me in.... I think I will go Greyhound....

SarahWest

I've flown across the Atlantic two dozen times in the last twelve months. On only two flights was there enough turbulence that flight attendants were instructed to cease service and take to their jump seats. Usually it's a pretty smooth ride.

Provided that you're strapped in all the time there really isn't a problem. You might consider taking a sedative prior to the flight if the charts which AAMCI gave a link to indicate a high risk of turbulence.

SkiAdcock

WAY WAY too much info. Especially for someone who posted they were nervous to begin w/. Geesh.

For the OP, most of the above posts are my experience. Rarely encounter turbulance, 99% of the time it's light 'chop' & doesn't last very long.

In fairness, not to say you can't encounter medium or heavy, but for the majority of time , not a biggie.

And btw - lest you think yeah well, you all fly a lot, I personally hate turbulance & am usually not a happy camper during it, but really over the pond most of the time no big deal.

Having said that, for some reason about 45 minutes outside of London you experience about 10 minutes of very light chop. Not sure why, but it's been so consistent over the years I now just ignore it.

Here's what you should really worry about - how bad are the movies?! Cheers. Sharon

Globaliser

The point is, I would bet that not a single person posting to this thread has ever experienced anything more than moderate turbulence, and most will never have experienced much of that. I can only think of perhaps half a dozen flights in my whole life where I've been in moderate turbulence - and that's when doing something like 50 sectors a year.

danam

I think I've mentioned before in a thread somewhere about my worst turbulence experience. The drinks cart hit the top of the cabin and the poor girl serving the drinks spent the rest of the flight being restrained by others (due to her screaming) in the back.

just like a rollercoaster but less fun.

probably still comes under the 'moderate' category though, you couldn't say the plane was in danger or anything.

andy1860

I flew last year from Frankfurt /Germany to Washington Dulles
on a UA 747-400. It was the smoothest flight i ever had.
You haven´t to care.