8 ms·

> Hoffman warns that the carrier is not foolproof, especially during severe turbulence. “The child can slip out of it because of all of that force. A plane that

> Hoffman warns that the carrier is not foolproof, especially during severe turbulence. “The child can slip out of it because of all of that force. A plane that falls 4,000 feet in seconds — that’s like being shot out of a cannon. A front pack is not going to do the same as a car seat.” How common is it for a plane to fall 4,000 feet in seconds? Sounds like it would result in deaths for anyone who isn't strapped in at that moment. We've used car seats at times, but also have used an Ergo to strap our kid to our front. It is more than enough for the type of turbulence that we've ever experienced in a combined 80 years of flying, though of course there is a possibility that something stronger could hit.

sacnoradhq 4y ago
Not necessarily death, but risk of serious injury is a real possibility. Why do you think staff have their seatbelts on whenever they sit down? Less risk of injury and dying. Do you not wear a seatbelt when in a car?
dporter 4y ago
> How common is it for a plane to fall 4,000 feet in seconds? It wasn't 4,000 feet, but last month a United Airlines flight leaving Hawaii dropped 1,425 feet shortly after takeoff: https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a42887614/united-airlines-boeing-777-nose-dive-hawaii-plunge/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a42887614/u...
- elygre 4y ago
  That event got world wide news coverage, indicating that is was highly unusual.
  - Zanni 4y ago
    Not that unusual. Just a month earlier, 25 passengers were injured on a flight coming into Hawaii from Phoenix, 6 of them severely enough to require hospitalization. [0] "Between 2009 and 2021, at least 146 people, including passengers and crew members, were seriously injured by turbulence ..." [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/business/hawaii-airlines-turbulence-smoke.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/business/hawaii-airlines-...
    - throwawayacc5 4y ago
      Considering the billion people flying in that time frame, 146 serious injuries is less than a rounding error.
      - User23 4y ago
        It’s precisely because we’ve treated these “rounding errors” seriously that aviation is so incredibly safe. It didn’t used to be, it got that way because the engineers treated even a single injury as an unacceptable failure.
        throwawayacc5 4y ago
        Except this isn't even a rounding error, it's less than that. You can't engineer out the basic physics of turbulence for winged propelled aircraft.
        Zanni 4y ago
        Agree that turbulence is inescapable, but that's exactly why every passenger should have a seat belt.
User23 4y ago
I don't know how many feet it was or how many seconds, because it was the kind of experience that messes with your perception to say the least, but I was on a transatlantic flight where the plane went into freefall and kept dropping long enough that I started to seriously worry that it wasn't going to stop. It was probably not more than a few second, but it was quite an unpleasant experience.

sacnoradhq 4y ago

Not necessarily death, but risk of serious injury is a real possibility. Why do you think staff have their seatbelts on whenever they sit down? Less risk of injury and dying. Do you not wear a seatbelt when in a car?

dporter 4y ago

> How common is it for a plane to fall 4,000 feet in seconds? It wasn't 4,000 feet, but last month a United Airlines flight leaving Hawaii dropped 1,425 feet shortly after takeoff: https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a42887614/united-airlines-boeing-777-nose-dive-hawaii-plunge/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a42887614/u...

elygre 4y ago
That event got world wide news coverage, indicating that is was highly unusual.
- Zanni 4y ago
  Not that unusual. Just a month earlier, 25 passengers were injured on a flight coming into Hawaii from Phoenix, 6 of them severely enough to require hospitalization. [0] "Between 2009 and 2021, at least 146 people, including passengers and crew members, were seriously injured by turbulence ..." [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/business/hawaii-airlines-turbulence-smoke.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/business/hawaii-airlines-...
  - throwawayacc5 4y ago
    Considering the billion people flying in that time frame, 146 serious injuries is less than a rounding error.
    - User23 4y ago
      It’s precisely because we’ve treated these “rounding errors” seriously that aviation is so incredibly safe. It didn’t used to be, it got that way because the engineers treated even a single injury as an unacceptable failure.
      - throwawayacc5 4y ago
        Except this isn't even a rounding error, it's less than that. You can't engineer out the basic physics of turbulence for winged propelled aircraft.
        Zanni 4y ago
        Agree that turbulence is inescapable, but that's exactly why every passenger should have a seat belt.

User23 4y ago

I don't know how many feet it was or how many seconds, because it was the kind of experience that messes with your perception to say the least, but I was on a transatlantic flight where the plane went into freefall and kept dropping long enough that I started to seriously worry that it wasn't going to stop. It was probably not more than a few second, but it was quite an unpleasant experience.