How do you deal with turbulence on a flight?

A friend of mine is a pilot and he once told me to think of turbulence as bumps on a road when you’re driving.

As crazy as it seems, I pretend I am on a train that's moving over a rocky railroad. I remember that planes are designed for this and don't just fall out of the sky anymore because of "air pockets"

I panic like a motherfucker, pray, ask for wine, and watch the flight attendants like an owl watching the mouse.

I scream "WE'RE GOING DOWWWWWNNNN!" and then faint in the aisle.

It helps to know that plane crashes aren’t caused by turbulence. Even severe turbulence is not a concern in that regard.

I fucking hate it. I have to get pissed, stoned or a combo. Last flight I combined Benadryl, Cbd gummies, Dramamine, an antidepressant and wine.

There is a fantastic website called turbli that gives you a turbulence forecast 36 hours in advance. I will reroute and reschedule my flight if moderate to severe turbulence is predicted.

I listen to music and sing along in my head to get my mind off turbulence.

I grew up flying and it never bothered me but now in my 40’s the turbulence is more common and it does cause me a momentary flash of anxiety but I’m reminded that turbulence does not cause plane crashes.

r6 Are you an internet famous woman who claimed "that man is not real" and that the plane wasn't going to make it to its destination?

I Scream and try to get the exit door open.

"A friend of mine is a pilot and he once told me to think of turbulence as bumps on a road when you’re driving."

Same. A pilot I know said something very similar - think of it like being in a pick up truck driving on a country road.

White knuckle it and hope for the best.

[quote] I scream "WE'RE GOING DOWWWWWNNNN!" and then faint in the aisle.

I un-clutch my pearls and help calm bitches down.

I used to white knuckle it and would go into cold sweats. I was flying a lot, so a friend gave me some Xanax and those really did the trick. After a while when the turbulence happened, I felt like I should stand up and do the "wave" Eventually I weened myself off the drug and now turbulence is no biggie.

r6, bless you for that link.

I have pilots in my family and they reassure me. I used to be a white knuckle flyer but not anymore. I sit back, think about other stuff and hang onto my drink so I don't have a lapful of liquid. Flying is safe, stop worrying.

I only hate turbulence during takeoff

Same as several posters above, I think of a rutted road. And if it’s very bad, I watch the FAs - they are always so calm, even when it’s terrible (to me). I used to have a bit of turbulence anxiety and would grip my armrests but thankfully, I haven’t felt that in years.

A woman I worked with decades ago in Los Angeles was a stewardess for Pan Am or TWA and she told me that she was working a flight to Milan during a storm and they had to circle the airport. She flapped her arms like a bird to imitate how flappily the plane’s wings were flapping. One of the beverage carts flew up and broke another stewardess’s leg, which is probably the worst thing that can happen with turbulence.

Hurl. Luckily, they have convenient bags close by.

A pilot friend told me that the chimes you hear over air plane speakers have meanings for the flight attendants.

He said 3 chimes means "you might be fucked".

Projectile vomit .. I always aim it at my window.

Benzos. End of story.

I never take a flight without having all my paperwork organized for my surviving husband to not have to worry about a thing. Then I think about the best moments of my life, just in case it is time to go.

R22 would it make you feel better if I tell you now you die when you get hit by a bus?

Turbulence is a most welcome distraction. It gives me a chance to pass some major wind.

I loathe flying. A lot of my fear is simply the fear itself. The turbulence and the discomfort triggers the “flight or fight” reaction in me — rapid heartbeat, sweating, etc. I know logically nothing is going to happen but it’s that rapid onset physiological reaction that I can’t stand. Heart fluttering, mind going crazy. I have done everything to try to stop it but basically the only thing that works is a smallish amount of alcohol (not too much!) which just slows down my mind a bit and keep me from panicking. I have tried the breathing exercises and so forth but it’s horrible to work on them while my heart is pounding and so forth. I hate flying and yes I have pilots in my family too who have told me my fears make no sense but for me, it’s just an automatic physical response to the turbulence and no logic seems to work on me at that moment.

Like this!

One of the funniest scenes ever. RIP, Kelly Preston

WHAT turbulence?

If you want to see what a turbulent flight looks like on Turbli, choose flights between Denver, Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.

I would hella reschedule or reroute if I saw this on my upcoming flight.

I let out a Princess Diana Is Dead scream.

If you're scared of flying, do not look up turbulence on YouTube.

Actually DO do that. 👆Watch as much as you can. It will desensitize you. Same for rollercoasters or driving/hiking high elevations. Know exactly what to expect.

This is what you want for your flight.

Oh hell no

Is that turbulence or are you happy to see me?

If you'd like to avoid turbulence, then try and fly very early in the morning or late at night. Turbulence is caused by winds aloft and also by thermal heating of the earth's surface. At those times, there is far less thermal activity. I fly a general aviation aircraft and, even though I have gone through extreme turbulence in a small plane, I still have fear when it is turbulent and I'm not flying the plane.

There are more G forces in a streetcar than on a typical flight. But not up and down…

The scariest I have been in was wake turbulence. It felt like the plane yawed sideways for 45 degrees. But at least it was over quickly.

R2 "Air pockets?!"

I appreciated this (ignore the Australian accent and the fact that she looks about 14).

r3, same here

You are not entirely right R5. There have been crashes due to turbulence.

One of the worst was on a small commuter plane from Steamboat to Denver. It started with the pilot saying, “let’s give it a go”. At some point, the flight attendant sat on the floor and was sweating profusely. I will never again fly in the Rocky Mountains with a small plane. And certainly not with an asshole pilot who thinks he’s funny.

R42: same here. Worst turbulence of my life was Aspen to Denver. Those fucking Rocky Mountains.

R39 Nope, this doesn't comfort me. Jell-O and air aren't the same thing.

I was on a flight to Denver years ago, and as we were nearing the airport, a thunderstorm was developing, so they put us in a holding pattern until the storm cleared. As we circled, the storm got worse and worse, and the plain was bobbing up and down like an egg being flipped on a frying pan. The woman sitting next to me - a total stranger - grabbed my hand, and we gripped each other so hard, I thought I might break her tiny fingers.

After about 20 minutes of this, the pilot came on the intercom and said he was taking the plane to Colorado Springs, since it was "too risky" to continue circling.

If a pilot says it's "too risky" to bob around in the air for 20 minutes, turbulence ain't a benign thing.

^ Plane, not plain.

I'm "oh, dear"-ing myself.

About 8 years ago I was on a two-propellor plane from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi. We had such strong turbulence, I thought the wings were going to snap off... Mary!!

Apart from that, turbulence doesn't really phase me. When it happens, I think of DataLounge and how unfortunate-looking many of you must be, and I worry about you in what might be the final moments of my life.

Faze, not phase. Unless you're in Star Trek.

I tighten my seat belt in case the plane dips, so I don't go flying out of the seat.

R46 😂

It's when the plane suddenly drops that freaks me out, when you get that whoopsie-do feeling in your stomach. The side-to-side shaking doesn't bother me as much.

Years ago I was on a flight to Chicago that landed in a thunderstorm, lots of jolting and turbulence. I was surprisingly calm about it all (I was in my 20s)--the Asian lady next to me who didn't speak much English was barfing into the barf bag. I always thought those barf bags were for show, but they're not. I felt really bad for her, in a foreign country on a terrifying jenky flight in a thunderstorm.

My cousin was on a flight to England that had some severe turbulence that really upset him. He vowed never to fly again. He hasn't. That was over 40 years ago

I loudly complain about my sore colon while walking up and down the aisle. "All this bumping who can sit?"

Have fun, gurls!!!

K & P, of course.

I've had some severe turbulence going over the Atlantic at night. Like God hated us all and with his hand was shaking the plane violently and was going to throw us into the sea 30,000 feet below. Our dinners had to be taken away and the stewardesses looked frightened as hell. I don't fly at all now.

There are still places I want to see but I'm not dying in a freezing black sea consumed by fire and drowning at the same time. Fuck that shit.

R55 the impact would kill you

Yes R55, with the autopilot disengaging and a confused Air France Junior pilot pushing the plane into a stall.

Unbelievably, that's happened more than once since Air France 447, R57.

I bend down and inhale the musky odors of the crotch of the passenger next to me.

I ring the call button frantically though to no avail.

Avoid landing in Palm Springs.

I diarrhea in my seat repeatedly.

I am fast approaching 4 million flight miles after 24 years of international travel for work. There's never a good time to experience turbulence but if it happens at night, know where your phone, passport, earphones, eye glasses etc are if they're not on your person or stashed in your carry-on. I've been on overnight flights where turbulence occurred when everyone is asleep and the lights are off. If your phone or passport go flying, you may never find it. Besides always wearing your seatbelt, do not leave your tray table in the down position if you're not using it.