Exactly what happened remains open to investigation, but what has come to the fore is the professionalism of the cabin crew during the incident. Reports speak of crew members who were themselves hurt but were tending to passengers, unaffected by the severe turbulence that had disrupted what had been till then an uneventful flight.
If there is one piece of good news in the horrible episode of Singapore Airlines (SGX:C6L
) (SIA) Flight SQ321, which encountered sudden and extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Delta region in Myanmar on May 21, it is that SIA dodged a bullet in the skies.
That bullet took the probable form of clear-air turbulence (CAT), an extremely violent phenomenon that occurs at high altitudes, normally between 23,000 and 39,000 ft (about 7,000m and 11,900m) up in the air, and which is particularly dangerous because it cannot be seen in advance, unlike weather-caused turbulence, called convective turbulence. CAT poses a particular challenge to the navigational skills of pilots, who cannot fall back on protocols such as diverting the flight or entering a holding pattern. How can you avoid what you cannot see coming your way? Those manning the cockpit of SQ321 deserve to be commended for having steered the aircraft to safety.
