"If I’m not worried, you don’t need to be either": pilot addresses passengers during turbulence on Ibiza-Palma flight

Last Friday, passengers on a flight between Ibiza and Palma were caught off guard by turbulence, but the captain was quick to reassure them from the cockpit. His announcement over the public address system, in which he explained what was causing the shaking and repeatedly urged passengers to remain calm, was met with applause from those on board.

“Please do not worry, because this does not affect the safety of the flight in any way,” the pilot told passengers after the aircraft began experiencing turbulence.

The captain explained that the radar was not showing any storms or clouds normally associated with turbulence. “There is nothing showing up on the radar,” he said.

According to the pilot, the aircraft was flying through an area with a tailwind of around 100km/h, as well as clouds originating from the Sahara, creating unusual atmospheric conditions.

In response, the crew decided to change the aircraft’s flight level in an attempt to reduce the turbulence.

“We will probably ask air traffic control to let us descend slightly, and that should help ease it,” the captain explained.

Shortly afterwards, he told passengers that the aircraft had descended by around 2,000 feet, approximately 600 metres.

“You may have noticed that we have lowered the nose slightly,” he said, before adding that the change in altitude meant the aircraft would “very probably stop moving around so much”.

The pilot ended his announcement with a clear request to passengers: remain calm and continue the journey as normal.

“Please, continue to enjoy the flight,” he told them.

He then finished with the sentence that prompted applause from passengers and summed up the purpose of his intervention: “If I’m not worried, you don’t need to be either.”