How bad is the turbulence on a flight from miami to germany

How bad is the turbulence on a flight from miami to germany?
Hi there! I'll be flying to Germany from Miami in late April and am a terribly nervous flier; to the point where I get panic attacks. I can usually keep somewhat calm, but turbulence just gets the best of me, unfortunately. Has anyone been on a flight to Germany out of Miami and can tell me how bad the turbulence was? It';s so scary, especially because most of the flight is over water. Thanks in advance!
Air Travel - 9 Answers
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1 :
Turbulence is undeterminable. It's not that bad, I had a smooth flight. It's nice, and you shouldn't be worried. Take some sleeping pills and you'll sleep through it. You'll be fine, I promise. Or try to buy some magazines or something to distract yourself.
2 :
yes, there is no way to tell so far in advance what the exact weather will be like in April. Usually you get a few bumps, but you are not in hurricane season or anything! I can't tell you how many times I've been to Germany--some flights smooth as pond water, some a bit shake rattle n' roll--but I can tell you that I am still alive to tell you about it. Try bouncing up & down in your seat! works for me!
3 :
I'm 13 years old and have similar flights to see family and I fly alone 3 times a year for over 4 years. Flying is nothing to be afraid of it doesnt help hearing the radio talk about flights that crash down. And what always helped me is that private jets are usually the only planes that have issues.
4 :
It is really hard to say because we don't know what the weather will be like. Sometimes the captain will let you know ahead of time if there is going to be any but the best thing to do is to keep your seat belt fastened because sometimes there can be unexpected turbulence. I suggest you try to take your mind off things by using the personal in-flight entertainment system if there is any or take some sleeping pills and try to sleep through the entire flight. I understand your concern about flying over water as I sometimes don't like that idea either but having flown 3 round-trip transpacific flights, you just deal with it and look forward to what you will do when you arrive at your destination.
5 :
turbulence is part of every flight. but honestly, you ll be flying with a big machine.. since its an intercontinental flight - those usually lie in the air like a stone, if you know what i mean. my tip: get some earplugs, sunglasses or something and a pillow and sleep on the flight. ive taken a flight from germany to new york once and it was completely harmless and i actually liked it. i think you just have avatiophobia and it hasnt much to do with the turbulence.. if there IS turbulence doesnt mean the plane will crash down oO
6 :
There is no way to determine if there will be turbulence way in advance of a flight as it is caused by the weather in the flight path. Also airlines advise against taking sleeping pills, etc as some have suggested because the crew doesn't want you to be incoherent in the event of some actual emergency. Just sit back and enjoy the flight. You can get more bumps riding in an old truck down a back country dirt road than you will notice on a flight like you are planning.
7 :
Unfortunately, turbulence is not the same all the time. It's determines by weather factors and other environmental factors. Turbulence cannot cause a plane to crash, if that's what you're thinking. A real airline pilot even said so in an interview with Reader's Digest. The only reason they try to avoid it is because it is annoying for them to fly through.
8 :
Turbulence is often unpredictable, but on a long flight over the ocean, you can expect to encounter at least a little bit of turbulence at some points in the flight. When going from air to water or vice versa, turbulence is not unusual, and flying over mountain ranges can cause it, too. Heavy weather can bring turbulence with it as well. Turbulence is not a danger for the airplane, so there's nothing to worry about. Do keep your seat belt fastened when you're not walking about, however, as an encounter with turbulence can knock you off balance or cause you to hit your head if it's severe. Turbulence is the number-one cause of in-flight injuries for airplane passengers and crew, but people who have their seat belts on are not hurt.
9 :
While it is true that turbulence cannot be adequately predicted, there are some patterns. Going from Miami up the coast, there are usually short periods of light turbulence over the Carolinas. The route takes you up the coast of Canada. There is sometimes turbulence along the Canadian coast as you start to pick up tailwinds from the jetstream. Again, brief and usually mild. Though there can be turbulence anyplace, there is usually none until about 45 minutes before reaching the coast of Ireland where about 20 minutes of light turbulence is typical. Turbulence is not a safety problem at all. It is a psychological problem. A part of the brain - the amygdala - triggers the release of stress hormones when we think "what if"? The stress hormones cause the feelings. Even the fact that we are not in control and can't get off the plane can cause anxiety. Since you have panic, that is a problem. You can't get off the plane to help you get rid of the panic attack. If we could keep these thoughts out of mind we would not get either the stress hormones or the feelings. If the flight is smooth, it may be possible to keep attention focused on something other than the flight. But when there is turbulence, that is impossible. They thoughts come to mind, and high anxiety or panic is the result. Learning more about flying will not work. It helps, but not enough. Medication, according to research, sharply increases the possibility of panic. Research on that is at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9299803 That leaves no answer other than to change the unconscious mental procedures associated with operation of the amygdala in the subcortex. The amygdala is primarily visual in its operation. It is very interested in facial expressions. The amygdala interprets facial expression to determine whether a person is safe to be with or not. Thus, if you can recall a moment with another person in which their face told you they cared about you and cared about your feelings, you can use their face to retrain the amygdala by linking the various moments of the flight experience to that person's face. For example, recall the face vividly and imagine that they are holding a photograph of an airplane taking off touching their face so you see both their face and the photo at the same time. You repeat this with other imaginary photos of flight, until you have covered every part of flight that troubles you. There is a video that explains more about the amygdala and how it reacts to flying at http://www.fearofflying.com