Why it Matters
- Turbulence encounters have become the leading global accident category, with data showing a clear rise in incidents causing serious passenger and crew injuries.
- Multiple ICAO member states and industry bodies now identify turbulence as a growing operational safety risk, calling for improved data, reporting and international coordination.
- Injury statistics highlight major safety gaps, particularly for cabin crew, who account for the majority of turbulence-related injuries and remain significantly more vulnerable than passengers.
- Advances such as IATA’s Turbulence Aware platform and ICAO’s Turbulence Toolkit signal a shift toward predictive, data-driven mitigation, but industry-wide adoption remains uneven.
- With turbulence increasing globally and prediction limitations persisting, strengthening avoidance strategies, seatbelt compliance, crew briefings and real-time information sharing is critical to reducing injuries and maintaining operational safety.
Turbulence has always been a familiar companion in aviation, but recent safety reports show a significant global rise in turbulence encounters resulting in passenger and crew injuries. These are not minor bumps either: many involve serious harm, such as fractures. The trend is now sufficiently clear and concerning that major regulatory bodies are calling for coordinated international action.
At the 14th ICAO Air Navigation Conference, multiple working papers were presented, including those from Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, ACI and IATA, which identified turbulence as a growing operational safety risk. They highlighted the urgent need for better data collection, analysis, and information-sharing to improve risk monitoring. Regulators and industry bodies, including the NTSB, EASA, and IATA, have since echoed this call, reinforcing the message that turbulence-related risks require a new level of attention.
Among the most important developments is the IATA Turbulence Aware Platform, which uses automated data sharing to enhance situational awareness. ICAO has also released a comprehensive Turbulence Toolkit, consolidating government and industry recommendations. Together, these initiatives form part of a wider effort to improve turbulence prediction, avoidance, and injury mitigation. This article aims to raise awareness of turbulence-related injuries and highlight practical strategies to reduce their impact.
Why Turbulence Matters More Than Ever
The 2024 ICAO Annual Safety Report identifies turbulence encounters as the leading accident category for 2023. Turbulence remains one of the most difficult weather phenomena to predict, and it can affect any flight, regardless of aircraft type. Although most flights encounter some degree of turbulence, avoiding all of it is impossible.
Turbulence is typically categorised by its source, convective activity, clear air turbulence (CAT), mountain waves, wake vortices, or wind interactions with terrain. Research continues to show that convective turbulence accounts for more than half of turbulence-related injuries (57%), while CAT is responsible for a further 28%. Unsurprisingly, most injuries occur during moderate (41%) or severe (44%) turbulence events.
The Flight Safety Foundation’s 2024 Safety Report reinforces these concerns, noting that turbulence encounters have been the most frequent accident category globally for the past three years. In fact, 2024 recorded the highest number of turbulence-related accidents in any year since 1982.
Meteorology remains an imperfect science, and even the most advanced radar and sensing technologies cannot eliminate uncertainty. Airbus, in a 2024 publication, emphasised this reality, reminding crews and passengers that seatbelt use remains one of the most effective protections against turbulence-induced injury.
Understanding Turbulence-Related Injuries
Turbulence injuries are a well-recognised threat within aviation, and their severity should not be underestimated. The NTSB’s research highlights a striking fact: of 123 severely injured passengers in the United States between 2009 and 2018, only one was documented as wearing a seatbelt.
Even mild turbulence can cause injuries if passengers are unrestrained, and in severe cases, unbelted individuals can be thrown violently from their seats. Once a turbulence encounter begins, fastening a seatbelt may become difficult or impossible.
Passengers typically spend brief periods out of their seats—for lavatory use or stretching, but reducing these intervals wherever possible is vital. Yet passengers are not the only group at risk.
Flight attendants are dramatically more vulnerable. According to NTSB data from 1989–2018:
- Flight attendants are 24 times more likely than passengers to be injured, and
- They account for 78% of all turbulence-related injuries.
Injury data shows that 60% of turbulence injuries occur during descent below 20,000 feet, and most happen in the aft cabin, where passengers queue for lavatories and crew perform duties in the galley or aisle.
Planning for Turbulence Before the Flight
An avoidance-based mindset remains the first and best line of defence. Preflight planning should use all available tools, meteorological forecasts, radar-derived products, lightning data and SIGMETs, to navigate around convective activity wherever feasible. These tools make convective turbulence somewhat easier to predict.
Clear air turbulence, however, remains a notable exception. CAT often occurs at cruise altitude, in cloudless skies, and without obvious visual cues, making it substantially more difficult to anticipate during planning.
Tactical Decisions and Turbulence Awareness in Flight
Avoidance does not end at take-off. Tactical decision-making enroute is key, and crews should make full use of onboard radar, internet-enabled weather products, and updated turbulence reports. When checking in with ATC on a new frequency, pilots can request turbulence updates and report current conditions. ATC often has current, sector-specific information derived from pilot reports and requested deviations.
Timely pilot reporting, on common frequencies and through dispatch, provides valuable intelligence for following aircraft and enhances situational awareness across the operation.
The Critical Role of Cabin Crew and Passenger Briefings
Effective turbulence mitigation requires strong, clear communication with cabin crew and passengers. Cabin crew are statistically most at risk, making their preparation vital. Before departure, flight crews should brief them on expected turbulence trends and ensure they are aware of forecast moderate or greater turbulence on route.
Standard phraseology and timely advisories allow crew to secure the cabin and take their seats before conditions worsen. Since most cabin crew injuries occur below 20,000 feet during descent, completing tasks and securing the cabin early is especially important.
Passenger management is equally crucial. The seatbelt sign should only be switched off at cruise when turbulence is not expected or experienced. Preflight announcements should reinforce the expectation that passengers keep seatbelts fastened at all times while seated, even when the sign is off.
Prompt, authoritative PA announcements from the flight crew, especially when turbulence is anticipated. significantly increase compliance compared to announcements from cabin crew alone.
Turbulence Mitigation Is a Shared Responsibility
Turbulence-related injuries now account for the highest proportion of commercial airline accidents. While turbulence cannot be eliminated, its risks can be substantially mitigated through careful flight planning, tactical avoidance, adherence to seatbelt protocols, and clear communication.
The industry must also continue building cooperation among states, regulators, international organisations, and data providers to enhance prediction, monitoring, and information sharing. Ultimately, reducing turbulence injuries is a collaborative effort, and one that grows more urgent as turbulence encounters increase worldwide.
