Three ways to protect yourself on a bumpy plane ride – after easyJet crew suffered serious injuries in nightmare flight

Every time turbulence hits the headlines, people ask me how dangerous it really is.

And it’s happening again, with two people injured on an easyJet flight from Corfu to London, which had to make an emergency landing in Rome.

This week I'm talking about how to protect yourself in turbulence. — This week I’m talking about how to protect yourself in turbulence.

You should go to your seat and prepare as you would for takeoff or landing.Credits: Getty

Follow your flight attendants and you will be as safe as possible.Credits: Getty

From what I’ve read, it seems that the people on board, who were flight attendants, were thrown against the side of the plane as it began to shake, which sounds pretty terrifying.

They were taken to Rome airport and received medical assistance for their injuries.

However, there are some simple, yet effective, steps you can take as a passenger to ensure your safety during turbulence.

First of all, turbulence itself is not that dangerous: it is a perfectly normal phenomenon that occurs during a flight and will not cause the plane to fall out of the sky.

Learn more about flight attendants

Yet when you’re 30,000 feet in the air, it can be a horrible experience.

My advice to anyone who is afraid of turbulence is to prepare as you would for takeoff or landing when the plane starts to shake.

This is when we expect there to be the most bumps and shocks, so we ask that you remain seated at this time.

Following the takeoff and landing rules is honestly the best way to ensure your safety when things start to get a little tricky.

At this point your main concern will be loose objects and people, so make sure you are properly strapped in so you don’t get thrown around.

Collisions between people, passengers or objects, are the main cause of injuries during turbulence and are easily avoidable.

Pilot Reveals Scary Truth About Different Types of Turbulence

As soon as the seat belt light is turned on by the pilot, act as if you were in takeoff or landing mode and return to your seat.

Either way, the cabin crew won’t let you wander around, because we just want you to arrive at your destination safely.

Second, make sure your bag is properly stowed under the front seat so that it cannot fly across the cabin. All other items should also be stowed as securely as possible.

It’s all well and good to buckle up, but if your bag is unbuckled on the seat next to you or in the aisle, it’s just as likely to be sent flying, putting people at risk of injury.

What does it look like in the cockpit when turbulence occurs?

Pilot Eser Aksan E revealed to Sun Online Travel the scary truth about flying through turbulence and what it’s like to be behind the yoke during a bumpy flight.

She said: “In severe turbulence, we do not control the aircraft.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to turn around or anything, it’s just not in our control at this point, but it’s still flying.

“It obviously ends at a certain point and then we regain control, and we have to gain or lose altitude or whatever state the airplane is in, we have to correct that.

“But it’s not really serious, you don’t fall from thousands of meters or something like that, it doesn’t happen. That’s what it feels like. But it doesn’t happen.”

The most frightening type of turbulence is known as “clear air turbulence,” which cannot be predicted and can occur at any time.

This is why passengers are advised to keep their seat belts fastened at all times.

Eser continued: “There is obvious air turbulence and that is the most difficult thing. We can’t see it. We don’t know where it is and we can’t go around it.

“That’s what’s dangerous, because you can’t anticipate it, it happens all by itself.

“That’s why we always tell passengers that they must fasten their seat belts, even if the seat belt light is off, they still have to wear their seat belts.”

So you need to make sure it’s wedged under the seat, where it’s much less likely to cause harm to anyone.

Finally, I would make sure your tray table is put away, just to give you a little more space.

He might come up and hit you in the face, or you might get a table in the gut if you’re thrown forward.

You never really know where you’re going to end up in turbulence, or how the plane is going to shake, so it’s best to move all obstacles and anything that could hurt you out of harm’s way.

Other than that, enjoy the ride. The only way to overcome the fear of turbulence is to experience it and see that there is actually nothing really scary about it.

I know a lot of flight attendants who were really scared of it at first.

They are all used to it by now and don’t think twice about what they should do in this situation to help everyone on board get through the situation as comfortably as possible.

So trust us, listen to us and we will help you all stay calm and relaxed until the flight is ready to land and you can continue enjoying your holiday.

In the meantime, these are the worst seats to sit in when the plane hits turbulence.

And here are the items that passengers steal from flight attendants.