"People Should Never Fear Air Turbulence," Says Elon Musk, Then Explains Why

Tesla Chief Elon Musk recently explained why air turbulence is not a big deal and why one should never be scared during a turbulent flight. 

Air turbulence happens when a plane flies through clashing bodies of air moving at widely different speeds. It usually results in nothing more than a bumpy ride, however, it is still one of the reasons that lead some people to give up air travel. 

Now, responding to a video showing aeroplane wings during turbulence, Elon Musk said that one should not be afraid of turbulence because the plane is not going to crash. He also explained the wings of a commercial airliner can withstand extremely powerful forces and can bend to "insane amounts". 

People should never fear turbulence. Commercial airliner wings can handle insane amounts of bending.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022

Mr Musk's comment instantly grabbed the eyeballs of several Twitter users. 

"@elonmusk is absolutely right here. Generally, the aircraft structure and wings can handle much more turbulence and forces than the human body can so those moving wings are not an issue," wrote one user. "Everyone should see the take-off of a B-52. Those wings can move more than 3 feet up and down. Impressive! 1950's Tech!" added another. 

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Meanwhile, speaking of air turbulence, scientists recently explained how global climate change could also make flying just more turbulent in the near future. Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in the UK, highlighted a type of turbulence called "clear air turbulence". He said that unlike the turbulence caused by thunderstorms or clouds, the clear air turbulence hits suddenly and is hard to avoid. 

Mr Williams predicted that "clear-air turbulence" will increase significantly around the globe by the period 2050-2080, in particular along the busiest flight routes, and the strongest type of turbulence will increase the most. However, he also stated that this does not mean that flying will be less safe. He explained that just the average duration of turbulence will increase.