Topical Guide 401
Mark Dorset
Popular Misconceptions: “Air Pocket”
The effect her words had on him, dropping him in an instant from wonderful to miserable, was to return, an hour and a half later, when the plane to Washington hit an air pocket.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 20
It’s not uncommon for airline passengers to feel a sudden jolt during a flight. Often, this shaking and juddering will come without much prior warning; even when the weather conditions appear calm, the plane may get shaken around to some extent, or could even briefly lose altitude before normal service is resumed.
Such effects are sometimes attributed to a plane encountering an “air pocket,” but is this accurate?
Well, as it turns out, it’s not at all correct—because air pockets don’t actually exist.
“Basically, there’s no such thing. It seems to be a layman’s term to describe certain forms of turbulence or windshear,” Guy Gratton, an aeronautical engineer, test pilot and professor of aviation and the environment at Cranfield University in the U. K., told Live Science in an email. “I don’t personally ever use the term. I don’t think it’s useful.”Joe Phelan, “What are air pockets? And is it time for us to stop using the term?” in LiveScience
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