Crossing The Streams

All pilots and controllers know about wake turbulence, the vortices streaming out and downward from an airplanes wingtips anytime its generating lift. We know theyre strongest when the generating airplane is heavy, clean and slow. We know not to fly in-trail of a larger airplane at the same altitude unless there are at least three minutes separation, preferably more.

Editorial Staff

Monday, June 29, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Wake turbulence, created by an airplane's wingtips, is a significant aviation hazard capable of causing loss of control and structural damage, especially for smaller aircraft encountering the wake of larger ones.
Contrary to a common belief among pilots and controllers, a fatal 2013 accident involving a Piper Arrow demonstrated that even crossing wake turbulence at a right angle can be catastrophic.
The accident, caused by the Arrow encountering an MD-80's wake, highlighted a dangerous misconception regarding perpendicular wake crossings and the critical importance of issuing wake turbulence advisories.

See a mistake? Contact us.

All pilots and controllers know about wake turbulence, the vortices streaming out and downward from an airplane’s wingtips anytime it’s generating lift. We know they’re strongest when the generating airplane is heavy, clean and slow. We know not to fly in-trail of a larger airplane at the same altitude unless there are at least three minutes’ separation, preferably more.

We know to land beyond a preceding large airplane’s touchdown point and lift off before where it rotated. We know to either outclimb it—good luck with that in most personal airplanes—or turn away from a departing jet’s wake as soon as possible after takeoff. We also know that surface winds can blow a wake vortex back onto the runway and leave it there, just for us.