Singapore elevates turbulence to top aviation safety risk amid rising mid-air instability
The city state’s Civil Aviation Authority has pledged to enhance turbulence forecasting and detection systems to prevent accidents
Severe turbulence will now be classified as a state-level operational safety risk, alongside runway incursions, mid-air collisions and system failures, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in its Singapore National Aviation Safety Plan for 2025-2027, released on Wednesday.
The report identified 45 actions to bolster safety around operational and emerging risk areas. Of the accidents logged by Singapore in 2024, turbulence ranked as the highest. In an earlier safety plan for 2022-2024, turbulence was mentioned mainly in the context of training and operational awareness, not classified as a priority risk area in its own right.
In the immediate aftermath of that first incident, airlines worked to implement a variety of measures, including drilling flight crews on turbulence-related scenarios and enhancing forecasting and detection systems.
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One dead and dozens injured after Singapore Airlines flight hit by severe turbulence
Mid-air instability is becoming a more common hazard for carriers and passengers as rising global air traffic density means more planes flying in crowded skies, often through the same storm systems. Climate change is another factor: warming temperatures at cruising altitudes are strengthening jet streams and creating conditions linked to more frequent episodes of so-called clear-air turbulence.