The ride
How a flight should feel, what the bumps are, where to sit, and why the first twenty minutes are the busiest. Written to be read at the gate.
- Every noise a plane makes, in orderFrom the thumps under the floor to the roar after landing: what each airplane sound is, when it comes, and what it means.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- Fear of flying: what the studies say helpsExposure therapy has the best evidence for fear of flying. What the trials found, what explanation can and can't do, and when to see someone.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- How to read a turbulence forecast without scaring yourselfTurbulence forecasts are decent at where and weak at what you'll feel. What the numbers mean, how well they do, and how often to look.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- "Is turbulence dangerous?" What the NTSB numbers sayFrom 2009 through 2018, 123 people were seriously hurt in turbulence on US airlines. One was documented as belted. Here is who the others were.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- The most turbulent US routes, and why the list misleadsDenver to Jackson Hole tops the yearly list. Here's why short mountain routes always win, and why the ranking says little about your flight.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- Where to sit for the smoothest ride: over the wingSeats near the wing move least in turbulence, and the back moves most. The physics, what NASA and the NTSB found, and how much it really matters.Updated Nov 7, 2026
- Why the first twenty minutes are bumpy, and why it stopsBumps after takeoff come from the lowest layer of air, heated by the ground and tripped by terrain. A jet climbs out of it in minutes.Updated Nov 7, 2026