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Bumpy turbulent rides to Asia?
Just curious if the flights from west coast USA to Tokyo or Asia tend to be more turbulent as we go deeper into winter or if its just the luck of the draw?
I.E> Comparing November to January etc Any websites that anyone knows of that would explain better about these routes and "bad air" Know it is a strange question but appreciate advice! ------------------ |
I've often noticed when flying with Cathay London - Hong Kong - Sydney, at all seasons, that the flight from London to Hong Kong, across Russia and China is invariably smooth throughout, but the continuation always seems to hit mild turbulence as it crosses the Philippines and Indonesia.
I've always put this down to tropical weather patterns being much more aggressive than in temperate areas. It could also be due to less flexible Air Traffic Control not allowing changes to the route - once over Australia you can notice significant alterations of track on the Airshow as the crew successfully avoid tropical weather, while over the other countries you seem to follow the same fixed route regardless. |
There has been some threads on this in the past, but I wouldn't have a clue where to look for them. Yes, routes to Asia can be more turbulent than others in part because all the flights between Asia and the US tend to depart at the same time. There's one big wave going and one big wave coming back. There's only 1000 feet of vertical sep required in the ocean, which means with all these planes stacked on top of each other on the same routes, there's little room to maneuver to avoid turbulence. That's why ATC appears inflexible.
Edited to add: There has been a recent change on these routes though where although it's not legal separation and ATC says "unable," they add something like, traffic at such and such ... deviation at pilot's discretion. I suspect this came from the injuries that have come about during turbulence on these routes. [This message has been edited by letiole (edited 11-07-2002).] |
Try http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/ara...s/Avn00tcl.htm and http://www.auf.asn.au/meteorology/index.html
I concur on the bumpy rides over northeast Asia in the winter, and over southeast asian seas most of the year. |
This "Godzilla" turbulence was featured more than three years ago on The Simpsons when they visited Japan. From their flight home after takeoff:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">From 30 Minutes over Tokyo (episode AABF20, May 16, 1999): The plane starts shaking and two warning lights light up: fasten your % seatbelts and a picture of Godzilla holding a plane. PILOT: Uh, folks, we're experiencing some moderate Godzilla-related turbulence at this time, so I'm going to go ahead and ask you to put your seatbelts back on. When we get to 35 thousand feet, he usually does let go, so from there on out, all we have to worry about is Mothra, and, uh, we do have reports he's tied up with Gamera and Rodan at the present time. Thank you very much. -- Airplane announcement, "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" % Outside Lisa's window is a giant eyeball. Lisa closes the window shade and % goes to sleep. As the airplane gets away, Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, and % Rodan shake their arms around angrily. Godzilla picks up a tank and throws % it at the plane, but misses.</font> [This message has been edited by FWAAA (edited 11-07-2002).] |
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