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Keep that belt fastened properly!

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Basil

Basil

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Too often people, especially on smaller private jets, don't always heed the advice of keeping the seat belt fastened. Turbulence can strike suddenly, and while most of today's jets can handle even pretty severe turbulence, if you're not buckled in, all bets are off. I've been in some turbulence while flying commercially that, had I not had my belt secure, I'd surely have hit the ceiling.
By the way, I've read that the person killed was a prominent lawyer who served in two prior administrations.


When my son was flying (PIC) for SkyWest in a CJR, he hit severe turbulence over southern Kansas (on a flight from Omaha to Austin, TX) and had to make an emergency landing in Ok City. Another airline pilot onboard as a passenger said that in 20 years of flying it was the worst turbulence he's ever experienced.

This is screen shot from FlightRadar24 of my son making a spiral descent for emergency landing at Ok City.

Emergency_Shaun2.png
 
Years ago I went on a check ride with an instructor. Aircraft was a glider and seating was tandem. I was seated in front and instructor was in rear. I went through the pre-flight check list. When I got to “seatbelt” secure, I asked the instructor if his seatbelt was fastened…. He responded “Yes”.
A few minutes later he instructed me to put the nose down sharply while on tow. When I followed his command, I saw him come out of his seat FAST and hit his head on the canopy. At that moment I thought that he was going to be ejected through the canopy. He ended up with a nice gash on his head.
To this day I don’t know why he didn’t fasten his belt.
 
Basil said:
Too often people, especially on smaller private jets, don't always heed the advice of keeping the seat belt fastened. Turbulence can strike suddenly, and while most of today's jets can handle even pretty severe turbulence, if you're not buckled in, all bets are off. I've been in some turbulence while flying commercially that, had I not had my belt secure, I'd surely have hit the ceiling.
By the way, I've read that the person killed was a prominent lawyer who served in two prior administrations.


When my son was flying (PIC) for SkyWest in a CJR, he hit severe turbulence over southern Kansas (on a flight from Omaha to Austin, TX) and had to make an emergency landing in Ok City. Another airline pilot onboard as a passenger said that in 20 years of flying it was the worst turbulence he's ever experienced.

This is screen shot from FlightRadar24 of my son making a spiral descent for emergency landing at Ok City.

View attachment 86665
Click to expand...
Pretty steep decent!
 
We experienced something bordering "severe" early on a recent flight from Singapore to San Francisco... but thankfully it lasted only about 10 seconds. It did, though, cause the attendants in the aisles to jump down to the ground and spread arms/legs out while they were grabbing hold of seat stays. We were lucky that nothing had been served yet and seatbelts were all still fastened. There would have been a mess and injuries if it had happened about 30 minutes later.
 
Last edited:
Boink said:
We experienced something bordering severe early on a recent flight from Singapore to San Francisco... but thankfully it lasted only about 10 seconds. It did, though, cause the attendants in the aisles to jump down to the ground and spread arms/legs out while they were grabbing hold of seat stays. We were lucky that nothing had been served yet and seatbelts were all still fastened. There would have been a mess and injuries if it had happened about 30 minutes later.
Click to expand...
That's lucky! Most of the time, pilots are aware of potential turbulence based on PIREPS from other pilots along the same or nearby routes, but ever now and then, they get caught by surprise.
 
Basil said:
Maybe he thought it was fastened but didn't sufficiently tug on it to be sure?
Click to expand...
Maybe, but he SHOULD HAVE CHECKED IT.
He also put me in danger as he could have cracked the canopy wide open.
I honestly thought I was going back to the airport by myself that day.
 
When was getting my glider rating I was thought as PIC you made sure your passenger was buckled in.
 
If I'm in a moving vehice with a seatbelt, it's done up. Cars/planes/choppers. The belt isn't uncomfortable, so why not keep it on? Just common sense.
 
I never flew without my seat belt on, learned that earlier in life! Been in a couple of wrecks some years back and they saved me from a trip to the OR. One fixed wing and one helicopter. (y)
 
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