CA1524 Sky Scare

Pengpai News Reporter Yuan Lu, Chen YuanyuanIntern Huang Yifan, Zhou Yufan, Yu RuoxinThe sky is cloudy. As usual, Guitarist Wang Juve from Summer Vapor arrived at the airport with his guitar, bass and other instruments after the performance

Pengpai News Reporter Yuan Lu, Chen Yuanyuan

Intern Huang Yifan, Zhou Yufan, Yu Ruoxin

The sky is cloudy. As usual, Guitarist Wang Juve from Summer Vapor arrived at the airport with his guitar, bass and other instruments after the performance.

He will take flight CA1524 of Air China and take off from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at 15:24 on July 10. It was originally expected to land at Beijing Capital Airport at 16:55. This flight is carrying 240 people, including the elderly and children.

After about an hour of flight, just as Wang Jue thought the plane was about to land normally, the fuselage suddenly experienced two severe jolts. A few seconds, both short and long, he didn't even have time to panic, only feeling that this tour was about to "put money and life into it".

At 17:18, after the plane landed smoothly, the passengers were all lying on the ground to help people with mobility find the bumpy and falling objects. "They found a pile of mobile phones," Wang Jue felt a lingering fear afterwards.

On the morning of the 11th, Air China announced that flight CA1524 encountered clear air turbulence, during which one passenger and one flight attendant were injured.

People and things on the seats flew up

On July 10th, Summer Vapor's Summer Solstice Dream band ended their performance in Shanghai, and Wang Jue and a drummer from the band boarded flight CA1524 and returned to Beijing. They plan to take a few days off before continuing with the next performance.

After boarding the plane, Wang Jue noticed that the seats were not fully occupied. In addition, many familiar musicians are also on this plane.

The weather in Shanghai was cloudy and sometimes windy, and many flights were cancelled, but flight CA1524 was operating normally.

Wang Jue and his teammates originally chose another flight, but that plane was on its way from Beijing to Shanghai and due to weather conditions, it made an alternate landing in Hangzhou, which was "delayed until very late". At that time, Wang Jue had already passed the security check and decided to temporarily change his signature.

Wang Jue sat in the middle of the fuselage, near the wing. After settling down, he put on his headphones and listened to music while writing essays in his memo. As a musician who needs to perform across the country, this is only one of the dozens of flight trips he takes every year at the age of 26. In the previous hour, the plane flew normally.

When the aircraft broadcast prompted, "The plane is ready to land, bathroom and cabin services are about to stop, and flight attendants are conducting cabin safety checks," the fuselage suddenly experienced severe turbulence. Wang Jue recalled that there were relatively many people going to the restroom at that time. A passenger had not had time to take a seat after using the restroom and fell in the aisle of the plane. He saw a flight attendant protecting the passenger with their hands to prevent them from falling or being injured.

When the plane began to land, the fuselage experienced severe turbulence again, and Wang Jue felt that this time it seemed more intense and lasted for a longer time. During this period, the flight attendants continued to shout, asking everyone to sit in their seats and fasten their seat belts.

Wang Jue immediately took off his headphones and put down his phone, leaving his brain blank. He only felt weightless, "like riding a roller coaster or soaking in water. Someone "hung" from the seat, and even the heavier person instantly left the seat.

Lin Xue, who was also on this flight, deeply felt the strong sense of weightlessness. "People and things on the seat flew up," she recalled to the surging news. After being startled by the first fall, she looked out of the window. When the second fall occurred, the plane was passing through a huge cloud, and then a sudden crash occurred.

At this moment, a thrilling scene occurred on the flight.

Xing Lida, a Paleontology scholar, was also on the plane. He saw a woman who was nearly 40 years old coming out of the bathroom. She was frightened by the first fall and was about to find something to hold her. The stewardess came forward to help her, but the second fall came again. The stewardess and the woman were thrown onto the ceiling together.

The bulletin board was smashed to expose the pipeline. All pictures in the text are provided by the interviewees

The turbulence lasted for a few seconds. These few seconds are moments, a deep breath, a loss of control.

Lin Xue saw the plane shuttle between the white clouds, and then left the white cloud area, gradually stabilizing the plane.

Many mineral water bottles, small pillows, and beverage bottles rolled around in chaos, "Xing Lida remembers. After the turbulence ended, the flight attendant and the lady fell to the floor of the cabin, and the lady's forehead bled, her foot twisted, and her left arm also bled. Afterwards, the flight attendant broadcasted to inquire if there were any medical personnel, and someone came to tie tape and apply ice to the injured woman.

The schoolbags of elementary school students in the cabin flew up, and the papers inside were scattered all over the ground.

Although his heart was trembling, Wang Jue still tried to calm himself down, which was the first severe turbulence he had encountered in hundreds of flights in the past. He heard the passengers in the rear cabin screaming in panic, while many young people of the same age were sitting around him. Everyone had already started chatting and joking, trying to calm down.

Some elderly people and children showed fear on their faces, and Wang Jue tried to appease them. The plane was enough to withstand such pressure. He has watched "Air Disaster", a documentary about air disasters, and is also interested in aviation knowledge. At that time, the plane was relatively high, and the pilot had sufficient reaction time. If the flight altitude was very low, another rapid descent would be more dangerous

Wang Jue saw three flight attendants walking from the front to the rear of the plane, supporting the fallen passenger. The ceiling of the plane was deformed due to a collision.

The safety exit sign on the ceiling of the plane was smashed down.

The restless sound lasted for about a few minutes before the plane regained calm. The flight attendants reassured all passengers and said, 'Don't worry, it's okay. We've already passed the airflow.'.

Unannounced 'Clear Sky Turbulence'

According to the official microblog of Air China, "On July 10, 2023, Air China CA1524 (Shanghai Beijing), aircraft A330-300, encountered sudden turbulence in the clear air during the flight, the crew and crew members handled it according to the procedures, and tried their best to maintain the safety of passengers. During this process, one passenger and one crew member were injured."

Fang Qiang, a pilot of Air China, said that during flight, there are often bumpy situations, including clear air turbulence. Fang Qiang said that at this moment, he will be highly vigilant, turn on the seat belt bell to remind passengers in the cabin, and take actions such as slowing down; When the turbulence is too strong or lasts for a long time, he will apply to the control to change the flight altitude and route to find a stable area.

What passengers need to do is fasten their seat belts in their seats and follow the instructions of the flight attendants, "Fang Qiang said.

A paper titled "Aircraft Bumping and Aviation Support" points out that the basic reason for aircraft bumping is the presence of turbulence in the atmosphere - when the aircraft encounters disturbed airflow, it is subject to local uniform aerodynamic impact, causing left and right shaking, front and back bumping, up and down throwing, and local shaking, making it difficult to operate the aircraft and inaccurate instruments. According to the causes of turbulence, it can be divided into three types: dynamic turbulence, thermal turbulence, and clear air turbulence.

The paper introduces that there have been multiple severe aircraft turbulence accidents in domestic civil aviation, with the most serious one causing 8 crew members and 14 passengers to be injured.

This clear air turbulence is a very rare atmospheric phenomenon in civil aviation transportation, "Wang Yanan, editor in chief of the Aviation Knowledge magazine of the Chinese Aviation Society, told the surging news. Clear air turbulence is caused by atmospheric disturbances, which the industry calls clear air turbulence, Generally speaking, severe atmospheric changes we encounter are accompanied by rain, snow, and lightning, such as heavy rainfall. The movement of the atmosphere in clear skies is an external characteristic without warning. Although the air can also be disturbed, the intensity is generally weak, and there are rarely such strong disturbances. This disturbance is often related to nearby rainfall. Therefore, he speculated that there is heavy rainfall weather around the aircraft.

Regarding the phenomenon of aircraft plummeting caused by turbulence in clear skies, Wang Yanan pointed out that this is due to heavy rainfall that may cause the surrounding air temperature to rapidly decrease. "This rapidly cooling air will directly hit the ground from high altitude like water flow, and if such airflow impacts the aircraft, it will instantly cause the aircraft to drop a large height, just like taking a sudden downward shot of your aircraft, and the people inside will not fly up

At the same time, Wang Yanan believes that it is difficult to predict and avoid turbulence in clear skies because the radar currently used on aircraft is Doppler weather radar, which detects the movement of the air by observing scatterers in the air. However, the transparency of the air in clear skies is high and there are very few scatterers, making it difficult for pilots to determine the movement of the air, It's like you have a weed covered ditch while driving, and you have to bump it over, but you definitely can't predict

The Central Meteorological Observatory also released a message stating that clear sky turbulence is difficult to observe and detect, posing a huge threat to flight safety. Specifically, during this CA1524 flight, there were significant convective cloud activity in the northern Shandong and eastern Hebei regions, which may be the main cause of turbulence. The Central Meteorological Observatory also reminds that summer is currently entering and there is a high incidence of convection in the afternoon. It is recommended to choose morning or morning flights for travel and avoid periods of frequent convection.

After the turbulence

Aviation Personal media "Apron" introduced in a public article that in flight attendants' training courses, turbulence is generally divided into mild, moderate and severe.

How should ordinary people recognize and cope with severe turbulence?

As mentioned in the article, the intuitive feeling of severe turbulence is that something on the table has started to fall off the ground, and even something is flying in front of you, unable to take a step out, and your feet are a bit off the ground. As a passenger, fasten your seat belt and try to lean your head against the back of the seat to reduce dizziness; If in the restroom, grab the auxiliary handle next to the toilet or immediately return to your seat to sit properly; If you don't have time to return to your seat in the hallway, simply sit on the floor or squat down and grab the nearest fixed object, such as the metal luggage bar, seat foot handle, seat guard, etc. under the seat.

After this violent jolt, the lead singer of the Shouting Control Band, Liu Xinghan, became nervous. When the plane passed through the clouds and the flight was unstable, he was very scared and kept thinking about the new album that had not yet been released. He found that the person next to him was also in a state of panic and uncertainty. The boy sitting next to him, who looked like a middle school student, kept holding his head. The other passengers tried to appease him, but he only looked up slightly outside the window and responded with 'hmm'.

The damaged cabin roof.

After the turbulence

When the plane first landed, Wang Jue remembered that apart from the sound of applause, there was no one speaking in the cabin.

Xing Lida was relieved now. The wind was strong on the ground, and he saw an airport sign blown down by the wind. The weather during the rainy season was always not ideal, and he remembered that before boarding, on his way to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, it was thundering and raining.

Xing Lida's Weibo post after the turbulence

According to Air China official Wechat, the flight landed normally at 17:18, and Air China arranged special personnel to accompany the injured passengers and attendants to the hospital for treatment.

After disembarking from the plane, waiting by the conveyor belt to claim their luggage, the passengers chatted about the jolt just now and said, 'It seems like they've only truly realized it.'. At that moment, Wang Jue deeply realized that life is paramount. He feels very tired and wants to go home quickly.

Xing Lida, who often travels by plane, appears much more composed. On the afternoon of July 11th, he told reporters that he would take a plane to Shijiazhuang again at 18:00.

(As requested by the interviewee, Wang Jue, Lin Xue, and Fang Qiang are pseudonyms)

Source: Pengpai News

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