This advice may save your life: when riding a plane, pay attention and fasten your seatbelt if the seatbelt sign is on. 

This, after extreme turbulence during a Singapore Airlines flight left 104 passengers injured, some of whom sustained spinal or spinal cord damage, brain injuries, and damage to their internal organs. 

One passenger, a 73-year-old British man, died on the flight allegedly due to a heart attack.

Several passengers on turbulence-hit Singapore flight need spinal surgery

Capt. Edgardo Diaz, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines department director for operations, said he has experienced 2 instances of severe turbulence during all his years of flying.

In one incident, he said the flight attendant sustained a knee injury after her knee slammed into an armrest.

Diaz warned clear air turbulence or CAT can be dangerous since it cannot be detected by radar unlike turbulence caused by storm clouds or mountainous terrain.

“Wala kayong makikita na kahit na ano. Walang ka warning-warning ‘yan, clear ang skies, malinis, walang ulap, mataas ang altitude more than 20,000 feet, kaya di niye aakalain na tatamaan kayo. Ang eroplano malalaglag po, minsan umaabot ng 5000-6000 feet,” he said. 

Turbulence, he said, occurs due to different factors including the weather, mountainous terrain or strong air currents such as jet streams.

He said pilots usually look for a jet stream, which helps push the aircraft forward due to strong gusts of air. It is in these air tunnels where a lot of turbulence happens, Diaz said.

Climate change can also be a factor in the increase in turbulence, according to AirlineRatings’ Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas, citing university research in the UK which shows that severe turbulence has increased by 55% over the last 40 years.

The CAAP official urged passengers not to ignore seatbelt signs while on a plane. “Kapag hindi naman po importante, mas maganda nakaupo na lamang at isuot ang seatbelt,” he said.

He added: “Dapat po talaga pag tayo ay lumilipad, dapat tayo ay sumusunod sa patakaran. Kapag ang piloto ay nag on ng seatbelt sign, ang mahalaga po diyan ay sumunod tayo.”