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Oscar Liu

Even the most advanced aircraft radar systems cannot fully detect high-altitude turbulence, aviation experts have said, as Cathay Pacific Airways investigates an incident that injured 10 people on a Hong Kong-bound flight from Brisbane last week.
Hong Kong’s flag carrier revealed on Tuesday that it had launched the probe following calls for an inquiry into the weather forecast relayed to the flight crew and how quickly the pilots responded.
The Airbus A350-900 aircraft operating flight CX156 from the Australian city was hit by severe turbulence about two hours before landing on Saturday.
The jolt occurred during breakfast service in the economy cabin, injuring four passengers and six unbuckled crew members as food trolleys overturned and oxygen masks deployed.
A passenger said the drop in altitude lasted about two seconds, describing the experience as feeling like “free-falling from a drop tower” as everyone screamed and loose items flew through the air.

The incident occurred days after Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau released its final report into Singapore Airlines flight 321’s encounter with severe turbulence over Myanmar in May 2024.
The report revealed that possible issues with the aircraft’s weather radar under-detecting inclement conditions might have led pilots to fly into it, resulting in one death and injuries to 79 passengers and crew members.
Peter Carter, director of Australian-based Carter Capner Law, who represents Singapore Airlines passengers injured in the incident, argued that carriers often relied too heavily on the “unforeseeable clear-air turbulence” defence.
“Aircrews in both events would surely have received forecasts indicating the likelihood of thunderstorms on their planned route and ought to have been hypervigilant while transiting places of known convective activity,” he said.
Carter called for an inquiry into the forecast relayed to the Cathay flight and how quickly the cockpit crew responded.
He said that under the Montreal Convention 1999, an international agreement, passengers were entitled to strict compensation for proven bodily injuries up to A$260,000 (US$185,350) regardless of airline fault, with no upper limit if operational negligence was established.
In response, a Cathay spokesman said: “We are in the process of gathering more facts to better understand the circumstances, and it would not be appropriate to draw any premature conclusions at this stage.
“The safety of our customers and crew guides every decision we make.”
He added that medical personnel boarded the aircraft after it landed to help a small number of passengers and crew who reported feeling unwell.
“They were provided with the utmost level of care. We will continue to follow up and provide the necessary assistance,” the spokesman said.
Local industry figures dismissed suggestions the incident arose from crew negligence, pointing to the inherent limitations of aviation technology.
Warren Chim Wing-nin, deputy chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers’ aircraft division, said standard on-board weather radar relied heavily on moisture detection, leaving high-altitude clear-air turbulence virtually invisible.
“Even with advanced weather forecasts, pilot feedback and on-board radar, it is simply impossible to predict the exact timing of turbulence with absolute accuracy,” he said.
“Unless a pilot intentionally flies into a massive, clearly visible storm cloud, high-altitude turbulence is almost always a sudden occurrence.”

Steven Cheung King-lung, chairman of the Hong Kong Professional Airline Pilots Association, also warned against pointing fingers before a formal inquiry was completed, noting that global climate shifts were actively making standard flight paths more volatile.
“There is increasing scientific evidence that turbulence, particularly clear-air turbulence, is becoming more frequent and more severe as the climate changes,” he said.
Cheung added that convective thunderstorm systems regularly breached altitudes above 40,000 feet, directly intersecting standard commercial cruising levels.
“The whole purpose of airline operations is risk management, using weather forecasts, on board weather radar, reports from preceding aircraft, air traffic information and pilot reports to reduce the risk as much as possible,” he noted.
“Modern aircraft such as the A350 are extremely capable, but they are still operating in a changing atmosphere.”
He said some turbulence associated with rapidly developing weather systems might not be visually obvious, giving crews little warning.
Similar incidents have occurred in recent years. In July 2024, an Air Europa flight hit severe turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean, causing the plane to drop suddenly and injuring at least 40 unbuckled passengers.
In December 2022, a Hawaiian Airlines flight hit severe turbulence near Honolulu when a storm cloud rapidly developed in front of the plane, injuring 36 people.
Cheung noted that injuries arising from turbulence almost always occurred because passengers or crew were not strapped in at the time, stressing that keeping seat belts fastened was a vital precaution, not a formality.
Chim echoed his comments, noting that while it was impossible for crew members to always remain buckled up due to their duties, the rule for passengers was absolute.
“For passengers, the old cliched advice remains the best: keep your seat belt fastened at any and all times when you are in your seat.”


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Cathay Pacific

High-altitude turbulence tricky to detect, experts say, as Cathay investigates case

Ambulances wait at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday morning for the Brisbane flight. Photo: Handout

Oxygen masks dropped during the incident on the Cathay flight. Photo: Threads/ @east_gibraltarian

The galley of flight CX156 was left in complete disarray after turbulence hit. Photo: Threads/ @east_gibraltarian

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Cathay Pacific says it is ‘gathering facts’ surrounding case of severe turbulence that injured 10 on flight from Brisbane


Cathay Pacific says it is ‘gathering facts’ surrounding case of severe turbulence that injured 10 on flight from Brisbane.


High-altitude turbulence tricky to detect, experts say, as Cathay investigates case

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Cathay Pacific says it is ‘gathering facts’ surrounding case of severe turbulence that injured 10 on flight from Brisbane

Cathay Pacific says it is ‘gathering facts’ surrounding case of severe turbulence that injured 10 on flight from Brisbane