Recent analysis has identified the flight path connecting Santiago, Chile, to Santa Cruz, California, as the globe's most turbulent route, topping the charts with an average Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR) of 17,568, according to data compiled by an Anadolu Agency (AA) correspondent based on Turbli's 2023 report on air transportation turbulence.

Despite its relatively short distance of 210 kilometers, the route between Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, ranked second with an average EDR of 17,457. Following closely is the 661-kilometer flight route between Lanzhou and Chengdu in China, with an average EDR of 16,750, making it the third most turbulent route deterring many travelers.

Also noteworthy are routes between Tokoname and Sendai in Japan, Milan and Geneva in Switzerland, Lanzhou and Xi'an in China, Osaka and Sendai in Japan, Xi'an and Chengdu in China and Xi'an and Chongqing in China, each with EDR averages ranging from 16,398 to 16,579. Rounding out the list is the 203-kilometer route between Milan and Zurich, Switzerland, with an average EDR of 16,016.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 flight from London experienced severe turbulence, resulting in one fatality and 30 injuries and an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Injuries caused

While turbulence can induce chaos and panic among passengers, it can also result in mild to severe injuries. According to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), between 2009 and 2022, 163 passengers and flight crew sustained serious injuries from turbulence incidents in the country.

On March 2, 2023, turbulence on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Mauritius injured 20 out of 285 passengers and crew. Similarly, on Dec. 19, 2022, 36 out of 288 passengers and crew were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Arizona to Honolulu. Another notable incident occurred on July 12, 2019, when 37 out of 284 passengers and crew were injured on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver, Canada, to Sydney, Australia.

Turbulence differences

Turbulence refers to an aircraft's shaking and trembling due to airflow disruptions during flight. It commonly occurs near jet stream boundaries, over mountains and in certain cloud formations, where warm and cold air currents intersect.

Clear Air Turbulence (CAT), defined by the FAA, refers to sudden and intense eddies that can violently toss an aircraft, even in cloudless areas. Passengers and crew alike need to be aware of this phenomenon, as it can occur unexpectedly and pose significant risks to flight safety.