Here’s Why Scary Airplane Turbulence Is Like Jell-O

But luckily, influencer Anna Paul gives us some scientific tips (which she says she got from a pilot) to feel a little less scared when the bouncing begins. She holds up a small container of Jell-O and a crumpled-up napkin that she puts in the Jell-O. “That’s you flying through the sky,” she says of the napkin in the Jell-O. “There’s pressure from the bottom, pressure from the top, from the sides, pressure coming from everywhere.”

“Now when there’s turbulence, it’s like this,” she says, hitting the top of the Jell-O with her finger. That makes the Jell-O jiggle, and the napkin jiggle along with it, but the napkin doesn’t fall or sink. “It’s stuck in there because there’s pressure coming from the bottom and the sides … It’s not going to automatically fall just because it’s shaking and there’s never been a plane crash from turbulence, so you do not have to be scared.”

Phew! That is honestly such a relief. Never a plane crash from turbulence? Now when I fly, I’ll just use that bumpy ride like a rocking chair to put me to sleep. Even still, now that we know how turbulence is actually affecting the plane, we’re still wondering what causes turbulence.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) describes turbulence as “air movement created by atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts, or thunderstorms. It can be unexpected and can happen when the sky appears to be clear.”

It’s actually one of the main reasons we’re required to wear seatbelts, even loosely, on planes. If there’s sudden and unexpected turbulence, a passenger without a seatbelt could fly up and hit their head. While injuries during turbulence are fairly common, as long as you follow the flight attendants’ instructions, you should be OK, even during one of the worst turbulence events.

Scientifically, it’s actually incredibly interesting how turbulence, especially in clear air, is formed. Obviously, if we’re flying through rain, wind, or stormy weather, turbulence is caused by that weather event. But there are many other factors that can contribute to a rocky flight. One of the most common is essentially like “air waves” caused by mountains.

Just like water in an ocean creates waves when it needs somewhere to go, air does the same thing (but we can’t see it). If you’re flying over and near mountain ranges, you’re likely to hit some of these “air waves.” As air hits a mountain, it might just smoothly go over the peak, but sometimes there’s too much air and it is forced upwards.

Another phenomenon, according to National Geographic, is that thunderstorms can cause turbulence hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Basically, the fast growth of storm clouds pushes air outwards and can break up the atmosphere. While weather models can’t always predict turbulence, it should be comforting that scientists and researchers are hard at work improving predictability tools for pilots.