Air Pocket

I had heard about air planes flying through turbulent skies.This usually happens when the aircraft is going through a dense cloud or rain. The pilots generally advise the passengers to be seated with their seat belts on while flying through such turbulent skies.

But, What's an Air Pocket?

Air Pocket, I think is a slightly more dangerous version of such turbulent skies. 

The dictionary defines it as a downward air current that causes an aircraft to lose altitude abruptly.

At around 10.30 AM today, up above the skies of India, more than 360 odd people must have faced some of the most anxious moments of their lives. And the most luckiest!!

The incident? Well, an Emirates flight from Dubai to the south Indian city of Kochi suffered a drop of 200 feet (or 15000 feet?) while cruising over Goa.

The cause? The plane hit an air pocket and dropped an altitude of 15000 feet(if the article below is to be believed).

It is a real disaster situation if a flight cruising at 20000 feet loses 15000 feet in the air. The force of gravity in such situations must be very extreme. And people on board must have thought that they are having a free fall without any control.

Check out this article for more information on this incident. 

And some words from a guy who was on that very flight.

"Some of the passengers were shouting and crying for help. And for three minutes no one knew what was happening. Many were thrown out of their seats; some had their heads hitting the roof of the aircraft. A child was thrown out of the seat. We felt that everything was coming to an end," a relieved Elsy told reporters here. 

This just summarizes the panic situation on board when this must have happened.

I just wonder what would have gone through the minds of the flight crew when this incident must have happened. Usually before the flight is nearing its destination, the cabin crew walk through the craft - collecting the head phones, blankets etc. 

They must have had some really tense moments. Unless they were seated with their seat belts on, some of them must have been definitely thrown around, and some of them might have got injured too.

But two people, who can take credit for rescuing these people from certain deaths, are the pilots. 

These guys must have kept cool in those extreme moments, and tried to focus on the task of getting the plane back to normal flying in the best possible manner. This is where their entire training, their skills must have come to use. I think these guys must be awarded generously for their exemplary performance in trying conditions.

But one thing is for sure. This incident would make air travelers nervous and pilots extremely cautious.