Importance Of Weather In Weather

Weather conditions are one of the most unpredictable factors a pilot must face. It affects a pilot’s activities more then any other element. Some say it is the most difficult and least understood subject in aviation history, while others continue to be “daredevils” and fly through it. A pilot’s knowledge of weather is imperative when it comes to flying an aircraft safely through a storm or even avoiding it in the first place. For a pilot, understanding weather phenomena will increase flight safety.

Weather plays a significant role in many aircraft accidents and incidents. It is a major issue that is not within the control of technology or aviation system planners. Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports most commonly find human error to be the direct accident cause, weather is a primary contributing factor in 23 percent of all aviation accidents NTSB)). One of the most fatal weather conditions a pilot can face while flying is a thunderstorm. All thunderstorms can produce severe turbulence, low level wind shear, low ceilings and visibilities, hail and lightning; each with their own unpredictable characteristics that can quickly down an aircraft. There are three stages of thunderstorm formations that pilots encounter, The Towering Cumulus stage, The Mature stage, and the Dissipating stage. The Towering Cumulus, often called the developing stage, produces warm, moist air rises in a buoyant plume or in a series of convective updrafts. As this occurs the air begins to condense into a cumulus cloud, drastically deducing visibility. As the warm air within the cloud continues to rise, it eventually cools and condenses. The condensation releases heat into the cloud, warming the air leading to air quickly rising. The process continue...

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...NTSB>>>. Icing conditions also involve one of the most hazardous conditions in a storm, hail. Hail is the result of frozen drop that have latched onto one another to form a large ice ball. Another phenomena produced in a storm is lightning. Lightning is produced when liquid and ice, above freezing, collide, to build up static electricity in the cloud. Once the electricity becomes large enough, it will produce a giant “spark” in the form of lighting. It can occur between clouds, between clouds and air, and between clouds and ground; the most hazardous is when it is between a cloud and an aircraft. A lightning strike can puncture the skin of an aircraft and damage communications and electronic navigational equipment. All thunderstorms can contain lightning and as an aviator, you should also be aware that lightning could still exist up to ten miles away from a storm.