Why dangerous, bone-breaking turbulence is on the rise and how to sit on a plane to avoid getting hurt

Things that go bump in the flight.Soaring levels of turbulence have increasingly turned air travel into a real nightmare at 30,000 feet.Just last month, two people suffered broken ankles after a British Airways flight encountered severe turbulence en route to the UK.The most infamous recent incident occurred in May 2024 when a 73-year-old British grandfather was killed and more than 30 others were injured after a Singapore Airlines flight hit severe turbulence — plummeting 6,000 feet and sending unfastened travelers crashing into overhead bins.Unfortunately, air passengers likely face more turbulent times ahead.

According to a 2023 study out of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, clear-air turbulence — high altitude bumps that occur in the absence of clouds — has increased in regions around the world.Between 1979 and 2020, the total annual duration of severe turbulence over the North Atlantic — one of the world’s busiest flyways — soared by 55%.Meanwhile, moderate turbulence skyrocketed by 37%, and light turbulence saw a 17% increase.These increasingly bumpy rides have been chalked up to climate change, experts have said.“Following a decade of research showing that climate change will increase clear-air turbulence in the future, we now have evidence suggesting that the increase has already begun,” said Professor Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading who co-authored the study.As a service to readers, we’ve compiled a turbulence survival guide to help passengers stay safe in the unfriendly skies.There’s no “Bourne Identity”-esque super move to avoiding injury during a tumultuous plane trip.

Rather, staying safe is often as simple as — to reiterate the airline safety briefing — as strapping in.“The thing you want to do is be seatbelted when you’re in your seat,” A View From the Wing contributor Gary Leff told the Post, noting that most turbulence-induced injuries involve peop...