Extreme airplane turbulence

Question

Last week I experience extreme turbulence and sudden loss of altitude on a US Airlines flight from Boston to White Plains, NY. This continued for quite some time. We were bouncing all over the sky. I was very concerned that we would crash into another plane. As we came out of it and began our final approach there were jets that were escorting us. These jets appeared to be extremely close to our small prop plane. What is the purpose of the jets? Are airlines required to report incidents when there is significant turbulence?

Answer 1

Turbulence are very common when flying! They occur on almost every flight. They are more common on smaller planes because they are much lighter than larger planes. Turbulence are caused by pockets of air pushing up, down, and against the airplane, that's why you get that bouncing sensation! It is almost impossible for a plane to crash midair into another plane because they have radars that detect other airplanes. As for the "escort jets" I think they were probablly other planes landing on different runways!

Answer 2

You feel turbulence a lot more on these little prop planes, than you would on a larger plane.  That's not to say that large planes can't experience severe turbulence, they can.  Turbulence is pretty normal, and causes no threat to the airplane.  Typically airplanes in front of the one you are on will let ATC know that there is turbulence, so that ATC can let the airplanes behind them know about it.  That's when the seatbelt sign comes on.  As far as jets "escorting" you...are you sure?  It could have been planes landing on a different runway.