A new report from the National Transportation Safety Board has found that measures can be taken to reduce turbulence-related injuries, the board said during a meeting on Tuesday.
During a meeting with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Weather Service, and airline industry associations, the NTSB said specific actions, including turbulence encounter reporting and turbulence forecasting, could lower air carrier operation injuries related to turbulence.
“Pilot reports of turbulence conditions are a tremendous help to both pilots and forecasters to predict and avoid hazardous turbulence and subsequent injuries,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Bruce Landsberg. “The majority of injuries occurred below 20,000 feet in the vicinity of thunderstorms, so it’s critically important for both passengers and flight attendants to be seated with their seat belts fastened in those conditions.”
The NTSB’s report, “Preventing Turbulence-Related Injuries in Air Carrier Operations Conducted Under Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations Part 121”, revealed that more than one-third of all Part 121 air carrier accidents in the United States involving serious injury are caused by turbulence, making it the most prevalent type of air carrier accident. The report also noted that flight attendants account for nearly 80 percent of turbulence-related injuries because their job requires them to frequently be up and about instead of seated and secured with a seat belt.
Investigators said that although accurate and frequent turbulence observations were an important tool in creating turbulence forecasts, the current system of pilot reports and automated reports from turbulence measuring equipment on airplanes was less effective than it could be. The report said the equipment is less effective because of its limited dissemination amongst airspace system users. The NTSB recommended that the FAA update and streamline systems to collect turbulence reports to increase the information available to all airspace users.
Additionally, the value of NWS turbulence forecasting could be improved if the forecast coverage area was smaller and the format was more user-friendly. The NTSB asked the FAA and NWS to work together to develop more detailed graphical forecasting products providing greater detail for a smaller coverage area.
The study also looked at a new product, the turbulence nowcast, which updates numerous data sources every 15 minutes to produce a more detailed forecast. And the study suggested that in situations where the flight crew has no advance warning of turbulence, air carriers should focus on mitigating injuries to the crew and passengers.