Why are cumulonimbus clouds dangerous?

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Published 2019-08-29
Cumulonimbus clouds, often referred to as "CB", can be some of the most dangerous clouds we encounter as pilots. It's important to know what's in these clouds, what makes them potentially dangerous, and what to do about them during flight.

This post originally appeared Airplane Academy at airplaneacademy.com/why-are-cumulonimbus-clouds-da…

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All Comments (21)
  • @AirplaneAcademy
    Hey guys! I wanted to let you know I just launched an "Insiders" Newsletter where once a week I'm sharing an important lesson I've learned in aviation, links to my latest content so you don't miss out, and links to any other interesting or helpful content I've found. I'm also working on a HUGE project I can't announce yet but I'm going to be sharing more behind the scenes info with Insiders first - Subscribe (it's free) at: airplaneacademy.com/insiders
  • @lucabetti9773
    When i was around 10 or 12 years old, we were flying from Rome to Caracas over the Atlantic, we dropped height twice due to airgaps, the first time was 1000ft drop and the second one was about 600ft drop. Years later casually playing wow with friends i talked about that experience with a pilot in my guild and he told me he also was on that flight as second officer, what are the odds... Basically a Cumulonimbus was forming and the Captain gambled to fly over it instead of modifying our route, and an airgap threw us down for a 1000ft (ive always thought they were 1000 mt but i really had no clue about metric sistems and i dont want to exagerate something thats already terrifing with the smaller mesure). The funny thing was that a lot of people got injured in the back of the plane due to luggage flying from the closed baggage doors wich split open, so the crew was in a hurry to arrive at destination... soooo a couple hours later we encounter the formation of a second cumulunimbus and the captain decided to gamble again, what are the odds that it will happen again right? we dropped another 600ft (as before, i remember mts but hey), long story short, we were welcomed to an airport filled with ambulances and medics, luckily we were not in the tail of the plane where the big dmg ocurred. It was cool all those years later learn from first hand experience all about that ''adventure'' and about cumulunimbus and how clueless we passengers are on what is really going on... p.s. the captain was fired on the spot after this encounter
  • @BladeOfDespairr
    So in short, flying through a cumulonimbus is like entering hell
  • I'm delighted by the professionalism and the interesting way in which you described those type of clouds - CBs. You've just earned a new subscriber. Keep it up! :)
  • Wow! I didn't know flying through my favourite clouds can pose risks except for small aircraft and of course being struck by lightning and the severe turbulence within them. Cumulonimbus has been and always be my favourite cloud type. ✈☁🌩⛈
  • @zzjinxme6473
    this is what i learned in science class and we watch a video of a guy going through a Cumulonimbus cloud and that guy luckly survived and he said ´´the hail was a size of a golf ball!´´
  • @rob.ale90
    Hello, i really appreciate the video. Can you please also create a video with 6 reasons why you should fly in cumulonimbus?
  • @Rikegile
    Reminds me of the movie “Up”
  • I know when I see Cumulonimbus clouds, I know something bad and scary is about to happen
  • @pritamguha5673
    You are making videos nicely. Our great exhibition will be started soonly. So that's video will be helped to me. Thank you very much
  • @PureGlide
    If you're in a fibreglass aircraft, like my glider, or carbon fibre, it's well worth avoiding lighting. It tends to make composites explode a bit :)
  • @aidenaviation
    During the summer i usually go to Florida with my family and quite a lot of the time I see these clouds on landing and I have no idea why it’s always there
  • @heroknaderi
    Very amazing information ℹ️ I enjoyed it 🤩😎
  • @lakeseminole
    What about other typical clouds in the atmosphere? Is it ok to fly through them? Is it smooth?