Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that increasing flight turbulence is an effect of climate change.
His comments come as turbulence has wreaked havoc on a number of flights so far this year, including a Qatar Airways flight Sunday that saw 12 injured.U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a press briefing the day after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2024.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that climate change is one of the culprits behind an increase in flight turbulence.
"We've seen that in the form of everything from heat waves that shouldn't statistically even be possible threatening to melt the cables of transit systems in the Pacific Northwest, to, as you mentioned, hurricane seasons becoming more and more extreme and indications that turbulence is up by about 15%," he continued. "That means assessing anything and everything that we can do about it.
The aircraft landed just before 1:00 p.m. local time and was met by emergency services – including airport police and the fire and rescue department – upon landing, the airport said in aWhile the Transportation Secretary called the deadly turbulence on the Singapore Airlines flight "very rare," he added that "turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly."