Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
According to the BBC article, clear-air turbulence is typically caused by sudden shifts in wind speed or direction.
However, this explanation fails to account for a critical aspect—why aircraft, when caught in clear-air turbulence, can suddenly drop dozens of meters within seconds.
A striking example occurred on May 20, 2024, when a Boeing 777 operated by Singapore Airlines encountered sudden clear-air turbulence over Myanmar while en route from London to Singapore. The aircraft lost 178 feet (approximately 54 meters) of altitude in just 4.6 seconds. Passengers who were not wearing seatbelts were violently thrown into the ceiling and aisles. One person lost their life, marking the first fatality due to turbulence in the past 27 years.
Research published in June 2023 reveals that over the North Atlantic, the most severe instances of clear-air turbulence occurred 55% more frequently in 2020 than in 1979.
And yet, despite the steadily increasing frequency and intensity of turbulence, so-called experts continue to assure us that it is more of a nuisance than a serious safety concern. I quote from the BBC article: “But even if turbulence becomes more frequent and severe, experts say there’s no cause for concern.”
Oh, what a bitter and shortsighted delusion that is! Turbulence—especially clear-air turbulence—is a very real cause for concern. And it is precisely the lack of understanding of its underlying mechanisms that leads to such reckless conclusions.
As early as April 2023—prior to the release of the aforementioned study on the rising trends in clear-air turbulence—ALLATRA, in collaboration with our partner project Creative Society, held a forum titled Global Crisis. There Is a Way Out. There, we publicly outlined the trends and projections for the intensification of this phenomenon. Moreover, we presented the specific mechanism by which dangerous episodes of clear-air turbulence occur—incidents that have, in fact, ended in aircraft crashes.
According to the BBC article, clear-air turbulence is typically caused by sudden shifts in wind speed or direction.
However, this explanation fails to account for a critical aspect—why aircraft, when caught in clear-air turbulence, can suddenly drop dozens of meters within seconds.
A striking example occurred on May 20, 2024, when a Boeing 777 operated by Singapore Airlines encountered sudden clear-air turbulence over Myanmar while en route from London to Singapore. The aircraft lost 178 feet (approximately 54 meters) of altitude in just 4.6 seconds. Passengers who were not wearing seatbelts were violently thrown into the ceiling and aisles. One person lost their life, marking the first fatality due to turbulence in the past 27 years.
Research published in June 2023 reveals that over the North Atlantic, the most severe instances of clear-air turbulence occurred 55% more frequently in 2020 than in 1979.
And yet, despite the steadily increasing frequency and intensity of turbulence, so-called experts continue to assure us that it is more of a nuisance than a serious safety concern. I quote from the BBC article: “But even if turbulence becomes more frequent and severe, experts say there’s no cause for concern.”
Oh, what a bitter and shortsighted delusion that is! Turbulence—especially clear-air turbulence—is a very real cause for concern. And it is precisely the lack of understanding of its underlying mechanisms that leads to such reckless conclusions.
As early as April 2023—prior to the release of the aforementioned study on the rising trends in clear-air turbulence—ALLATRA, in collaboration with our partner project Creative Society, held a forum titled Global Crisis. There Is a Way Out. There, we publicly outlined the trends and projections for the intensification of this phenomenon. Moreover, we presented the specific mechanism by which dangerous episodes of clear-air turbulence occur—incidents that have, in fact, ended in aircraft crashes.
