Is turbulence on an airplane ever dangerous?

Question

Do planes crash because of turbulence?

Answer 1

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Turbulence, even if moderate, can cause injuries so it can be dangerous. It is the leading cause of nonfatal aviation accidents but turbulence alone rarely causes an fatal accident. Additional weather factors usually are the major cause, while turbulence is just a contributing factor.

"From 1992 to 2001, there were 4,326 weather accidents that occurred in the United States. Of these 4,326 accidents, 509 were cited as turbulence weather events. (Not all accidents resulted in a crash.) Nearly 23 percent of these turbulence-related accidents resulted in fatal injuries to the occupants of the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited downdraft as the cause or factor most often in the general aviation accidents. Clear air turbulence was cited most often in the air carrier accidents."

http://www.nasdac.faa.gov/aviation_studi…

Here is a listing of accidents where turbulence was a factor- http://aviation-safety.net/database/dbli…
You will find that most were the result of operating in weather that was far worse than simply turbulent air.

Answer 2

Yes, there was a case that happend where the plane is about to land and there was air turbulence and the plane crashed.

Answer 3

It would have to be extremely severe turbulence. Turbulence can happen mostly because of weather, but sometiems it can be caused by other aircraft nearby. When large aircraft take off, they create wing vortices that can affect smaller aircraft for minutes after take off.
Most aircraft can handle turbulence, it gets dangerous when the aircraft are closer to the ground and cant react with enough altitude to correct.
If you're flying in a commercial aircraft and feel turbulence, it is pretty much harmless, due to your altitude and size of your plane. Commercial aircraft avoid large problem weather systems that create turbulence bad enough to cause problems. Don't worry, flying's safer than driving.

Source(s):

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