- Since times immemorial, humankind has never ceased to be enterprising in unearthing unachievable innovations, inventions, initiatives, and surprises for the good of us. Several mind-blowing achievements from time to time have ensured humanity is perpetually on an upward trajectory helping us immensely to embrace newer amenities. The advancement in science and technology front has been incredibly astonishing leading to humankind stepping on to no less than outward space itself. Such is the potency exhibited by human enterprise that it appears nothing is beyond reach in our efforts to keep exploring newer conquests. Generations after generations are enjoying the fruits of such shattering innovations. No complaints! Why should there be one?
PC: alchetron
- The moot point to ponder here is whether we have succeeded in really besting Mother Nature before considering ourselves an all-conquering race without ever being confronted with challenges. The answer is obvious. Whenever humanity starts believing it is invincible and unconquerable, Mother Nature shows who is supreme in no uncertain terms, leaving us to grapple with how to salvage the potentially catastrophic situation. One of the wonders of modern-day inventions is the ability to fly from one place to another in less time than what it used to navigate through conventional sea travel back then. Humanity has grown manifold vis-à-vis earth-shattering amenities making our lives so comfortable. Agreed, air travel is one such invention.
- Is it safe as we tend to believe on the back of tremendous improvements in safety standards? Does Mother Nature’s fury still pose a considerable challenge to the safety claims? Let’s delve deep to understand this. Of course, air travel was never a simple affair for many people. But recent incidents of air turbulence, with stories of passengers being tossed around and hitting the roof take it to another level. The most disturbing incident involved a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore, which faced rapid altitude loss, and led to a fatality, besides injuries to dozens of people. Close on its heels came reports of 12 passengers suffering injuries on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin. What do these incidents indicate?
PC: Pixabay
- It doesn’t help that this is not your usual problem for which blame can be assigned and the culprit put in the dock. Facing air turbulence is like dealing with a choppy sea, inevitable. While technology has made it possible to foresee pockets of turbulence and for pilots to issue a cabin warning or avoid them, there is still clear air turbulence (CAT) that can appear literally out of nowhere, sometimes causing mayhem in the aircraft. The problems can get worse courtesy of climate change. Thankfully, passengers can take heart from aircraft being designed to endure significantly higher stress levels. The chances of a commercial plane going down due to turbulence are almost nil. But don’t ever relegate the supreme Mother Nature to the backburner.
