Is turbulence dangerous to a plane?

Question

Is turbulence dangerous to a plane?

Answer 1

If it is really violent... yes

Answer 2

Passenger Jets are constructed primarily of aluminum.  It has a high strength to weight ratio, and is extremely flexible.

When a jet encounters turbulence, the most important thing for the jet to be able to do, believe it or not, is "bend".  By doing this, it simply absorbs damaging winds instead of transferring them to the skeletal structure.  Aluminum structure allows the plane to do exactly this.

Think of it this way:  when there's an earthquake, what kind of building get damaged most?  Of course, it's the stiff building made with no "give".  They're unable to absorb the motion.  Buildings that are designed to "bend" will easily survive even the worst earthquakes, because they've absorbed the kinetic energy.

This doesn't mean there's "absolutely no way" it can happen.  If the integrity of the plane's skin is compromised due to "metal fatigue" or poor maintenance (missing rivets, etc.), extremely violent turbulence can exacerbate this, and appear to "cause damage".  But if the aircraft is suffering these problems, they can rear their ugly head in straight, smooth flight simply because of wind speed.

When an investigation is performed, however, the conclusion is always either "metal fatigue", or "human error".  "Turbulence" has never been listed by the NTSB as the primary cause of aircraft damage.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I've been on about 6 flights and there haas always been a little turbulance which is normal i guess. On our flight to turkey the turbulance was pretty bad..my drink and food went flying onto the floor at one point. Turbulance is only dangerous if it effects the control of the plane which is very very unliekly.