Do you have a flying phobia? If so, Denver is the last place you’ll want to be.
Just recently, American Airlines flight 1296 that departed from San Diego en route to Chicago was diverted to due to extreme turbulence when flying over the Rocky Mountains. Several people were taken to a local hospital as soon as it landed to be evaluated. This comes to no shock to seasoned pilots as they say that Denver has some of the roughest airspace in the nation. This is probably no shock to many natives. Experienced traveler Lillian Iacino states, “I was born and raised in Colorado and I have had some of the most terrifying of flights when arriving in Denver. It’s just how it is” [gallery ids="9795,9792"] So what can you do about the turbulence when visiting Denver? You can just stay in your own home, transplants. JK. But for those with a flying phobia, this can be a major wake up call. Flying over the Rocky Mountains is like riding waves according to Bob Sharman, who researches turbulence at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. “The waves by themselves don’t affect the aircraft that much — the plane goes up and down — but it’s the breaking waves that makes those on a plane feel the turbulence,” says Sherman. Turbulence is not something to be afraid of, says Sherman. It’s when the turbulence becomes so extreme that it can be dangerous and people can get hurt inside the cabin.
So next time you encounter turbulence, think of it like cracks in the road when you’re driving. It can be terrifying psychologically to think about how you’re 39,000 feet in the air while going 400 miles an hour and you’re bouncing up and down, but hey, that’s what the cocktail service is for, right?
