What are air wells? can they be avoided? Three specialists clear up doubts

Luego de la grave turbulencia que agitó a los pasajeros de un vuelo de Aerolíneas Argentinas como si fueran cubitos dentro de una coctelera, los incidentes aéreos se volvieron tema de conversación y quedó flotando una pregunta: ¿qué son los pozos de aire? LA NACION consultó a distintos expertos y la primera conclusión es que los pilotos pueden ver en el radar, y eludir, las nubes peligrosas que pueden golpear a la nave, pero otros fenómenos son imprevistos y se producen en "aire claro". Por eso la recomendación es volar siempre con el cinturón de seguridad puesto, aunque los carteles indicadores no estén encendidos.

Flight Instructor Franco Bronzino explained that a plane is basically supported by the speed it has inside the air mass, but the speed is altered abruptly when there are ascending and descending currents or wind changes.These variations generate a loss of support.The plane, in effect, falls dozens of meters.It can even fall for more than one hundred.Within the cabin, passengers feel like in the elevator of the terror of amusement parks, or worse.In the most severe cases they hit the ceiling, as happened on the flight that came last Thursday in Miami, causing 15 injured.In the same way, there may be an increase in the lift force, and then the aircraft rises suddenly.

The main enemies

One of the main enemies of aviation are the cumulonimbos, giant clouds, of great vertical development, with ascending and descending currents of more than 100 kilometers per hour inside, according to the Bachelor of Sciences of the atmosphere Nicolás Rivaben in a postfrom the Site Fearosavions.com.

The cumulonimbos, adds Rivaben, are based around 1,000 meters high, and their summits can exceed 18,000 meters.Commercial airplanes fly around 12,000 meters and should avoid these monstrous clouds (which almost always have hail and electrical activity and can form ice on the fuselage), surrounding them at a distance not less than 18 kilometers.

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From the press division of the Argentine Air Force, they added to the consultation of this newspaper: "When an aircraft is located near a cumuliform cloud, it will suffer turbulence; what is done is try to go through the side; however, toSometimes when the pilot moves away, he can meet another; the pilot knows what he is going to find, the storm areas are seen in the radar. There are also turbulence without storms, called light air, and are caused by strong winds in height"

Bronzino, head of instructors from the Flight Center Aviation School (the largest between about 25 installed at the Morón Air Base, a "University City" for civil and commercial pilots), added that the flight radar actually actsthat is inside the cloud.The greater or lesser intensity of colors on the screen allows to calculate the virulence of the phenomenon.If the expected turbulence is mild, the pilot can decide to cross it.If it is medium or strong, it is always advisable to dodge it, prior communication to the control tower.For this, obvious, you have to have fuel reservation.

Regarding the turbulence of "clear air", Bronzino said that they are produced by what pilots call "wind cuts", sudden and impetuous changes in the direction or wind speed.The consequence is the same: losses or increases of the machine's support force and, consequently, rises and declines similar to those of the dollar.

Although the "winds of winds" are unpredictable, the pilots communicate the novelty to the tower, so that the following flights know what they are going to meet, the instructor concluded.

The turbulence hunter

Nicolás Rivaben is Rosarino, is 33 years old and obtained the Bachelor of Atmosphere Sciences at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.Of that career there are less than ten students per year.

His bachelor's thesis was a study on "clear air turbulence" in South America.In his work he analyzed two severe cases at the crossroads of the Andes mountain range.He currently works in the Department of Aeronautical Meteorology of the National Meteorological Service (SMN).Rivaben answered the questions of the nation:

-What is an air well?How is it formed?

-Pozo of air is an expression used to indicate the presence of turbulence in flight.Turbulence is a phenomenon characterized by a change in the performance of the aircraft due to abrupt variations in small -scale temperature and wind.These changes in the variables are generated by waves or swirls similar to the waves in the sea when they break.The phenomenon can be classified as "light", "moderate", "strong/severe" or "extreme", depending on the perception received aboard and the degree of impact on the performance of the aircraft.The "strong/severe" and "extreme" categories represent less than 3% of turbulence cases observed in commercial aircraft.

-What altitude is this phenomenon produced?

-The turbulence depends on the type of phenomenon that originates it.Mechanical turbulence is associated with the strong wind encounter with obstacles in the ground, for example, a building.The height ranges between the surface and two or three times the height of the obstacle (at a maximum of 100 meters).The orographic turbulence is due to the meeting of the intense wind with a mountain range or system of mountains.The height depends on the orography, but it can reach 15 kms high.The convective turbulence is related to "thermal" (or hot air bubbles that amount to approximately 3 kms) or with storm clouds that can reach 18 kms.Finally, the turbulence in clear air is associated - among other factors - to intense air currents called "currents in jet" and to instabilities in height.They usually occur between 6 and 14 kms high.

-Is the plane actually falls or is it a sensation?

-What experiences the passenger is an instant increase and decrease in the support of the aircraft.If the turbulence is strong or severe, he may experience changes in the altitude of the aircraft around 100 meters or more in a few seconds, at an altitude of 12,000 meters.

-What services does aeronautical meteorology of the SMN?How much staff do you count?

-The National Meteorological Service is the provider of aeronautical meteorological products for commercial aviation (through the air traffic services of the state company Eana). We have more than 60 meteorologists specialized in aeronautics distributed in the five flight information information regions of the Argentine airspace, providing advice 24 hours a day 365 days a year. This personnel monitor and warns the meteorological hazards for air navigation such as turbulence, swelling (ice formation on the fuselage), mountain waves, thunderstorms, dust storms and volcanic ashes, among others. The purpose of this area is to provide precise, clear and reliable weather information for decision -making and ensure the management of the operational safety of the air industry. In this sense, we collaborate closely with the Civil Aviation Accident Research Board, an agency of the State responsible for the investigation of operational security incidents.