Hold on, it may be a bumpy ride! Here are the flight routes with the most turbulence
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re expecting some turbulence ahead, so we’re asking you to return to your seats and fasten your seat belts, please.”
It’s not unusual for air travelers to hear this during commercial flights. Pilots report about 65,000 incidents of moderate turbulence every year, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Turbulence is a strong, unpredictable change in air movement. Depending on the severity, those aboard an aircraft can experience a bumpy ride or severe jolts that can injure passengers or crew members who aren’t buckled in, the Federal Aviation Administration says.
Turbulence is increasing, as this USA TODAY report shows. But while severe injuries have made headlines, it’s still rare for people to get hurt in turbulence.
Which North American routes had most turbulence in 2023?
Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.
Turbulence can affect all air routes to some degree. The 442-mile route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina had the highest average turbulence in North America in 2023, according to turbli.com, which maintains a database of flight turbulence.
Turbli bases its rankings on the eddy dissipation rate, or EDR, a measure of turbulence intensity. The same EDR may cause severe turbulence in a light aircraft but only light turbulence in an airliner, according to the National Weather Service.
Turbli says it analyzed 150,000 airline routes worldwide and ranked those that were active as of December 2023. Turbulence was computed over an aircraft's geodesic, its dome-shaped flight path, and its average cruising altitude.
Which North American airports had most turbulence in 2023?
Turbli ranked the 500 largest airports in the world in 2023. For each airport, the average turbulence was computed using readings taken within a circle 62 miles in diameter around the airport, at its base elevation and 13,000 feet above it.
Portland was rated at 15.201 EDR. Santiago, Chile, led the world with 17.137.
How does turbulence affect you?
Using EDRs, turbli.com rates turbulence levels as:
- Light: 0-20
- Moderate: 20-40
- Severe: 40-80
- Extreme: 80-100
How turbulence changes with altitude
How did world routes compare in turbulence?
The Nashville-Raleigh route's EDR was 14.728, below the route from Santiago, Chile, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which was the world's highest at 17.568.
All North American air routes were lower than those of others worldwide.
______
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Federal Aviation Administration; turbli.com; National Weather Service; National Center for Atmospheric Research