Light to moderate chop -- at the gate?
 

This is a new one on me.

We flew from CPH to AMS last night. Copenhagen was experiencing extremely strong winds. Our KLM flight (on, I think, an Airbus 319 or something similar) wasn't delayed, but the winds were so strong that they couldn't use a jetway. Instead, we boarded using old-fashioned rolling stairs. The plane, at its hard stand, was bouncing up and down like a bucking bronco in the wind. On board, it felt like light to moderate chop, and we hadn't even pushed back yet! It was so rough, the flight attendants were giggling in a nervous way. I asked one of them, "Can we really fly in this?" She looked around, and said in a low voice, "The pilot seems to think so."

Our roll-out was fine, and, though climb out was bumpy, I've been in much worse. Once we got above the clouds, the flight was smooth as glass.

That was a strange one -- at least for me.

Closest I have come is there is the ex-SHT 737 in deperate need of a replacement nose strut shock absorber. When she touches down at LAX, we porpoise something fierce on the way to the 70's gates. :)

Yes we had some significant winds here last night (all the garbage from half a mile upwind of my house seems to be in my front garden !), and quite a number of aircraft at airports around Britain experienced "chop at the gate" and got swung around, in some cases with a bit of damage for the engineers to fix today. The fin ("tail") acts like a yacht keel and can turn the whole plane round to head into wind. High wing turbos like ATRs or Fokker 50s are particularly susceptible to it.

Likewise there was a real storm at Dublin on January 1 and two Aer Lingus A330s, no less, got picked up at adjacent gates and thrown into each other. As a result EI have lost more than 25% of their long haul fleet pending repairs.

Aircraft should be parked directly into wind in such circumstances but modern gate plans incresingly do not give any flexibility.

i wish i knew how you all do it - im dreading my flight to nyc (from atl) next month because the minute the plane bumps my head is in my lap

Rearranged slightly:

Me, too -- I HATE turbulence!

Why, alcohol, and lots of it, of course! ;)

"Alcohol -- the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!"
- Home Simpson

I was sitting in a UA 777 at the gate, doors closed, awaiting pushback for a SFO-DEN flight, when the aircraft did a pretty major dip and roll and shook a little after that. I had Ch. 9 on, and therefore was one of the first on the plane to learn the cause... yep, earthquake.

About a 15-minute delay while they sent crews out in trucks to inspect the runways and taxiways, which is standard procedure. That's my city!

Sorry to hear that, allen. I know it is not going to help but follow the advice I received from a captain once: compare the plane to a car: not all roads are perfectly even, so, when the car tosses about a little, you don't panic, just blame the road. In plane it is the same, there are potholes you cannot avoid... ;)

yea i think it has to do with my lack of control -- like for example if im the passenger in the car - i have issues :)

In other words: it's not the plane's fault, it's not the pilot's fault, it's the asphalt.

I didn't name myself "whiteknuckles" for nothing. I absolutely dread any turbulence with a passion.