I’m a pilot – here’s why planes don’t fly through clouds that look harmless

A PILOT has revealed why planes don’t fly through certain clouds even if they might look harmless.

The aviator explained that while clouds might look pretty from the ground, flying through them can be dangerous.

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In an Instagram post, Pilotnesho said “it depends on the type of cloud” when it comes planes to taking evasive action.

“If it’s a large cumulonimbus cloud then the result could be severe damage to the airplane as these clouds contain violent up and downdrafts and possibly large hailstones,” he said.

“There are other types of clouds that you can easily fly through it without getting any turbulence.

“As a Pilot we always try to avoid certain type of clouds en-route for the safety and comfort of the passengers on board using a weather radar.”

Even large airliners avoid crossing the path of a cumulonimbus and they are thought to have been responsible for the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009.

Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with strong to even severe weather ranging from heavy rain to strong updrafts and downdrafts to tornados. 

The defining characteristics are towering column-like structure and falling precipitation

These are indicators that hazardous conditions exist in and around the cloud.

The interaction between strong updrafts and strong downdrafts causes potentially deadly effect called wind shear and severe turbulence within the cloud.

Pilotnesho is right to warn about hailstones as those at the control of China Southern Airlines Flight 3101 can testify.

The pictures of the plane shows the screen severely shattered following the mid-air weather emergency.

The plane was reportedly flying around a thunderstorm when it was struck by hailstones just minutes before its scheduled landing.

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