Adventure travelers often fly long distances to find the “good places.” I just got back from Capetown safari – with a total of 24 hours in the air.
In recent months there have been several aircraft that have bounced around in flight sending passengers bouncing to the ceiling. When plane goes though unstable air, the pressure fluctuations will cause the plane to buffet wildly.
They are not common, but scientists are now predicting that rough could become even more frequent due to the intensification of conditions that lead to “clear air turbulence.”
Pilots cannot see clear air turbulence and onboard sensors cannot detect it, so it becomes the most dangerous type of turbulence and increasingly will concern more passengers. In recent cases, planes have shaken so vigorously that flight attendants have hit their heads on the ceiling. Some flight attendants and passengers have been carried away on stretchers.
The message here….stay buckled up except for your regular walk-abouts and stretching. I now wear compression socks to avoid thrombosis. I use the bathroom every 90 minutes and drink only juices and water. Caffeine will mess you up as far as jet lag is concerned. It amazes me to see passengers who NEVER get up on a 9+ hour flight. Never. What is their bladder thinking, let alone their stagnant blood pooling?