Is Turbulence Dangerous? What This Week's Avianca Incident Actually Shows

Early Friday morning, Avianca Flight 42 from Medellín to New York's JFK ran into something that shows up in flight-anxiety searches almost every week: unexpected turbulence severe enough to send people to the hospital. It's a useful story to slow down and look at closely, because what actually happened — and what investigators say happens in turbulence generally — tells a calmer story than the headlines suggest.

What happened on Avianca Flight 42

The Airbus A320 was cruising at roughly 36,000 feet over the Caribbean, between Jamaica and Cuba, when the crew reported severe turbulence. Avianca diverted the flight to Miami as a precaution, landing safely around 3:25 a.m. Nine people — six passengers and three cabin crew — were affected; eight were taken to local hospitals and one to a trauma center, according to ABC News. The aircraft itself was undamaged.

Avianca put the remaining passengers on a replacement aircraft, which landed at JFK later that morning, while the original plane went through standard maintenance inspections and the FAA opened an investigation, the same report notes.

That's the whole sequence: rough air, a precautionary diversion, medical checks on the ground, an inspection, and passengers on their way again within hours. No mechanical failure. No structural damage. No danger to the aircraft's ability to fly.

Is turbulence actually dangerous to the aircraft?

This is worth separating from "is turbulence scary," because the two questions have very different answers. Modern airliners are engineered with large structural margins specifically because turbulence is a known, expected part of flying. Wings are designed to flex — sometimes dramatically, by design — and tested well beyond the forces that even severe turbulence produces. Commercial jets are not brought down by turbulence; in-flight structural failure from turbulence alone is essentially unheard of in modern aviation.

What turbulence can do is move unsecured people and objects around the cabin. That's where the real risk lives, and it's also where the one safety measure you actually control lives too.

So why do people get hurt?

The numbers tell a consistent story. The FAA recorded 146 serious turbulence-related injuries on U.S. airlines between 2009 and 2021, and 116 of those — about 79 percent — happened to flight attendants, not passengers, according to FAA data reported by the Associated Press. A related NTSB review of turbulence accidents from 2009 to 2018 found the same pattern, with flight attendants accounting for nearly 79 percent of serious injuries — largely because they're up and moving through the cabin during service when sudden turbulence hits.

That same NTSB review pointed to the flip side of the pattern: most seriously injured passengers were either out of their seats or flying with an unfastened seatbelt. People who stay buckled in, as instructed, overwhelmingly walk away from even severe turbulence unhurt.

What happens after a turbulence diversion

Diverting isn't a sign that something has gone wrong with the aircraft — it's the system working the way it's designed to. Crews divert out of caution, to get medical attention to anyone who was hurt as quickly as possible and to have the aircraft checked before it continues flying. That's exactly what happened on Flight 42: a safe landing, an inspection, a routine FAA review, and passengers moving on to their destination the same day.

If you're ever on a flight that diverts for turbulence, this is roughly the sequence to expect: a safe landing at the nearest suitable airport, care for anyone who needs it, an inspection, and onward travel arranged by the airline, usually within hours.

Putting your own risk in perspective

Incidents like this one get wide coverage because they're dramatic and the cabin video travels fast. But turbulence injuries serious enough to need hospital care remain rare across the tens of thousands of commercial flights that depart every single day. The one variable every passenger controls is also the simplest: keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you're seated, even when the sign is off. That one habit is the real difference between the rare passengers who get hurt and everyone else, who feels a few uncomfortable bumps and lands with nothing more than a story to tell.

If turbulence is the part of flying you find hardest to sit through, understanding it ahead of time tends to help more than trying not to think about it at all. Our Turbulence Companion guide — a focused, $12 PDF on what turbulence is, why it happens, and what to do in the moment — is the one we'd point you to for exactly this.

Frequently asked questions

Is turbulence dangerous enough to bring down a plane?

No. Modern aircraft are built and certified to withstand far more structural stress than even severe turbulence produces. Turbulence causes discomfort and, occasionally, injury to unsecured people — not structural failure.

Why do flight attendants get hurt more often than passengers?

Because they're the ones most often up and moving through the cabin during service when turbulence hits without warning. FAA and NTSB data both show crew account for roughly 79 percent of serious turbulence injuries, while seated, belted passengers are rarely hurt.

Does a turbulence diversion mean something is wrong with the plane?

Not usually. Diversions after turbulence are precautionary — they get medical care to anyone affected and allow a routine inspection before the aircraft flies again, exactly as happened with Avianca Flight 42.

What's the one thing I can actually do about turbulence?

Keep your seatbelt fastened any time you're in your seat, regardless of the seatbelt sign. It's the single factor most consistently linked to avoiding injury during unexpected turbulence.