Turbulence slams Continental jet, at least 26 hurt
Posted by JAC on 8/3/2009, 2:03 pm
| http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hd6QUjPEbwrrKqjIqvhayNctLRcQD99RF3MO1 Continental Flight 128, en route from Rio de Janiero to Houston, encountered severe turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean just north of Hispaniola, according to AP Press reports. Other press reports suggest the turbulence occurred southeast of Puerto Rico (see this one from Bloomberg, for example), http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a_NseQvHT0xs but flight tracking software available online shows a flight path that changed north of Hispaniola, presumably in response to the turbulence encountered.  The aircraft landed in Miami at 5:30 EDT, or 1030 UTC; according to press reports, the turbulence was encountered an hour before that, or around 0930 UTC. What was happening in the satellite imagery at the time? MIMIC-TPW shows that the region of turbulence was moistening with time as a tropical wave approached from the east.  However, GOES-12 satellite data show only modest convection in the region. For example, the 6.7 micron water vapor imagery from 09:15 UTC shows only scattered convection, although the presence of convection very near the location of the turbulence to the north of Hispaniola suggests a correlation. A loop of the water vapor imagery certainly suggests the presence of a leading edge to the convective development, which leading edge is very close to the region of severe turbulence. Perhaps the two are related, but at first glance this case demonstrates the challenges inherent in predicting damaging turbulence.  |
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