Wind Turbulance

One thing that me and my wife were not prepared for was the severe wind turbulence we experienced as soon as we left manila Sunday night march 23, 2008 heading to Los Angeles. There were times when me and my wife thought the airplane was going to go down or that we were going to lose a wing or something. I can't describe how bad it was unless your their but I'll tell you this. It was throwing us around the airplane and to tell you the truth, I've never experienced wind turbulence like that in all the years I've flown. Even the last time i went to the Philippines it wasn't half as bad as it was this time. What just is wind turbulence you may ask? Well, Air currents vary, and flying rapidly from one current to another is what leads to the feeling of turbulence. Some people call this “hitting an air pocket,” but this description is a misnomer. The jolt comes not from falling into a “hole” in the air but from crossing a barrier between different currents. Air turbulence is a change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere. It's unstable air more or less and its a normal part of flying. Anyways, we look forward to our next flight across the pacific ocean to Asia. until next time take care and hope this shed some light on wind turbulence.