an aussie in austria

There have been a few incidences of bad turbulence in the media lately, and it got me thinking about turbulence. It’s one of those things you try not to think about when cruising at 35,000ft. Much like those weird beeps and noises that sometimes happen during take-off and landing, you curl your fingers tighter around your arm rest (or your vodka tonic) and tell yourself it’s normal. Nothing is going to happen. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to drop out of the sky.

Except sometimes you do.

In my younger days I always enjoyed turbulence… that slight jolting that many people wince at. Nothing bad had ever happened to me on a flight. It’s kind of like being rocked to sleep. Sure, it can be disconcerting at times, but mostly, it’s fine.

Until that time our plane dropped out of the sky.

Luckily, we were still ascending, and everyone bar the flight attendants were securely strapped in. It happened completely out of the blue, and I have no doubt it would have been a disaster had the passengers been unbuckled. It was terrifying. First it dropped, and then it jolted around like one of those mechanical bulls at as show, as if it was literally trying to throw us out of the sky.

To his credit, the captain came over the loud speaker to reassure us that we’d just hit a bit of turbulence and that it would die down shortly. DIE! Did he just say die??? Add the fact that you could hear it in his voice that he was working pretty hard to get things back to smooth again. And then a few moments later another announcement chimed out: If there is a doctor on board please make yourself known to the flight attendants.

So yeah, it freaked me out. Turns out one of the flight attendants had hit the roof was injured. Luckily he was ok, got treated by a vet and refused to let them turn the plane around for medical treatment. Thanks dude, who got me home from NZ as planned.

Following this incident, I was absolutely terrified of turbulence. It took me a good many flights before I could enjoy the rocking motion again, and that ‘heart in your throat’ feeling hits me a lot earlier than it used to. I am now one of those ‘strapped in at all times’ which to be honest, is not the worst thing.

So… seatbelt on guys. It’s the smart thing to do.