Originally Posted by
Lisa6718
Hi everyone,
My first time on here and I’m not sure if this is the correct forum so please redirect me if needed.
I had a flight from Singapore to Brisbane (SQ235) departing around 9pm on Saturday 11 January local time. For around 6 hours of the flight there was bad turbulence and as an anxious flyer I’m keen to understand what severity this turbulence was if possible to backdate. My husband who is a calm flyer was also uncomfortable and anxious at times, and many people were motion sick - at one point around 5-6 hours in the cabin crew were instructed to cease service and sit down. I’ve previously dealt with moderate turbulence whilst flying through storms before but that was infrequent and short - this was probably the most consistently uncomfortable experience where I questioned the safety of the aircraft. Thank you all.
Types of turbulence:
CAT: Clear Air Turbulence, associated with the jet stream and/or wind shear (large differences in wind speed and/or direction over a short distance).
Convective: Associated with thunderstorms as warm air rises, causing vertical shear.
Mechanical: Mountain ranges disrupting wind flow at high altitudes or even buildings and/or trees disrupting wind flow at low altitudes.
Wake: When closely following another aircraft or crossing their path, this is the disrupted air displaced by the aircraft exactly like a boat in the water.
Note: Flying from Singapore to Brisbane you're flying right through the "Intertropical Convergence Zone", during the middle of Australia's summer. Things tend to get very bumpy in that area sometimes. It's just the nature of the beast down there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intert...nvergence_Zone
Most likely you experienced a combination of CAT and Convective turbulence. A Two For One deal.