Reasons to keep your seatbelt fastened when flying

How common exactly is air turbulence?

According to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in the US, about 34 turbulence-related injuries occur every year, on US airlines alone. Worldwide, it’s estimated that air turbulence injuries number around 58 per year, although this number is over 100 if you include cabin crew members.

But it’s going to get worse: climate change is causing more incidents of air turbulence, due to warmer air from high carbon emissions; so there’s a high chance that we could see more such incidents over the coming years.

Technology also doesn’t have an immediate answer: whilst plane instruments can pick up some forms of turbulence, they can’t “see” Clear Air Turbulence (CAT), which happens at high altitudes. There are no detectable signs and it’s invisible to the naked eye; so when it strikes, the plane is affected without warning. This is precisely the type of turbulence that rises with climate change, and it explains why you should keep my seat belt buckled (whatever the seat belt sign may say).

Besides the pain, there is also the cost of medical assistance
If the injury is serious, will there be post-hospitalisation treatment? What if the injury keeps you in the hospital for a long time, and a family member needs to fork out the dough to fly over and stay by your side? All of this also doesn’t address the issue of what happens if you can’t work.

If you have the kind of job where you can take a long medical leave, great. But if you’re a contract worker or gig economy worker, every day in the (foreign and possibly unsubsidised) hospital is burning a hole in your pocket.

This will come down to issues of your travel insurance, personal accident plans, and hospitalisation plans (some of which don’t apply overseas). So it’s really worth looking into the exact terms and conditions, and making sure everything is covered before you step on the plane.

Oh, and in the most dire event - touch wood - travel insurance will at least cover the cost of bringing your remains back to your loved ones.

The damage can be more than a bump on the head
The threat of physical harm should be enough, but air turbulence can cause more issues than that.

You can’t count on immediately getting a connecting flight back on the same day, even if you’re fit to fly. You may miss meetings, have to get temporary accommodation, or lose time off work (again, problematic if you don’t have the kind of job for which you can get an MC).

The relevant airline may be responsible enough to get you a flight back - but that flight may not be as soon as you like. If you do have good travel insurance though, you can at least get a payout if the flight is delayed by at least six hours.

Besides this, you should also note that things can get badly broken during serious air turbulence: Items can fall out of overhead compartments, things get crushed from being shifted around rapidly, even in bags, and electronics you’re holding on to may go flying. Even if you made it out okay, your laptop, tablet, or phone may not.

This is one more reason to get higher coverage on my belongings, as now air turbulence adds to the list of potential issues (like lost or damaged luggage ).

While most forms of travel insurance provide coverage, the safest way is really just to keep your seatbelt on.

Insurance policies like TravelSmart Premier can provide coverage for injuries or damaged items from air turbulence; and it’s worth a small amount to avoid the major financial damage that can occur.

But beyond that, the smart thing to do is just to keep your seatbelt on. It may be annoying at first, but after a while you’ll barely even notice it. And it’s a mild thing to bear with, to avoid going head-first into a plane component.