'Horrible turbulence' and plane could become 'unflyable': Pilots reveal why they're VERY keen to fly through storms

Here, a pilot reveals what could happen in the worst case. Storms can cause multiple problems, including the risk of an aircraft stalling. READ MORE: How air traffic controllers take revenge on disobedient pilots

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated day: 5.13pm BST, 4th September 2023

The next time a big storm is cited as the reason for your flight being delayed, try to quell your displeasure – and instead be thankful that air traffic control or the flight crew aren't willing to take risks.

As revealed by a captain of the Dreamliner to MailOnline Travel, if a storm is severe enough it could render the plane 'unflyable'.

He said: '[ In a storm, there would be] horrible turbulence, which would likely result in at least a lot of injury to passengers and crew.

'In the worst case scenario - either loss of control of the aircraft or possibly structural failure of control surfaces such as ailerons, elevator, rudder, which would render the aircraft unflyable.'

Pilot Rick James, who runs pilotteacher.com, further explains that storms can create "strong wind shears with rapidly changing wind directions".< /p>

If a plane takes off and the wind direction suddenly turns, it may cause the plane to stall.

It adds that storms can contain supercooled water droplets that freeze upon impact with an aircraft, potentially causing dangerous ice buildup.