Deadly Turbulence Prompts Airlines to Turn to Big Data Program
- Carriers showing increased interest in IATA turbulence program
- More incidents also a result of millions more flights: Walsh
Flight SQ321 was en route from London to Singapore on May 21 when it encountered severe turbulence as it entered Thai airspace and made an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Photographer: Valeria Mongelli/Bloomberg
Airlines are expressing a greater interest in IATA’s turbulence awareness program, a data collection system that helps pilots navigate tricky weather in real time, after last month’s Singapore Airlines Ltd. incident that left one dead and scores injured.
Turbulence Aware was launched by IATA in 2018 to help airlines mitigate the impact of turbulence, the No. 1 cause of passenger and crew injuries in the air. The program currently has 21 airlines feeding data into the system and IATA has a goal of collecting turbulence reports from 150 million flights by the end of 2024, Nick Careen, who leads the airline body’s work on safety, security and operations, said.