Back in the 1980s when I worked in the Flying offices, I remember overhearing then-Editor in Chief Dick Collins talking with now-Editor in Chief Mac McClellan on the phone. “It’s time for the thunderstorm article again. Do you want to do it this year, or is it my turn?” Of course, given the lead time for a print magazine, this conversation took place as snow was swirling outside the window in Manhattan. (Conversely, a similar conversation about icing would take place at a time when the walk down 34th Street was a sweltering ordeal.) But every year, Flying continues to perform its civic duty by reminding pilots that weather’s challenges change from season to season, and usually offering a nugget or two of specific aviation wisdom that might come in handy when you think of it on a dark and stormy night.
With the tragedy of Air France Flight 447 fresh in our minds, it seems an equally appropriate time to remind readers, here, of the dangers of summer thunderstorms. Mother Nature can be violently cruel and unforgiving — and she can show an equal measure of contempt for an international airline captain with 10,000 hours, 228 passengers and the most sophisticated modern equipment on board. Across North America, this year has been an unusually active one for convective weather; all the more reason to be on the alert.
