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, the strong vortices streaming from aircraft wingtips, is most dangerous when generated by heavy, clean, and slow aircraft, posing a severe risk of uncontrollable rolls or structural failure for smaller airplanes.
Contrary to a common pilot misconception, crossing wake turbulence at a right angle is not inherently safe and can be highly hazardous, as demonstrated by the article.
A fatal 2013 Piper Arrow accident, where the aircraft disintegrated after encountering an MD-80's wake at the same altitude and a right angle, underscored this danger and highlighted the importance of wake turbulence advisories from air traffic control.

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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.