This page provides some basic information from the creator of BumpySkies, a free turbulence forecaster, about the safety of turbulence, which is a very common atmospheric phenomenon that most commercial flights encounter. This page also shares some introductory advice for nervous fliers for dealing with their fears about turbulence, or about flight in general.
You are perfectly safe. Turbulence during air travel can be uncomfortable and even scary to passengers, but it poses no danger at all to the safety of a flight. Aircraft today are designed to withstand forces much greater than what air turbulence can produce; no commercial airliner in modern history has ever crashed due to turbulence.
Most turbulence bumps the plane around by a distance of inches or less. Your inner ear might quite reasonably express alarm at the sensation of your body unexpectedly shifting around like that, especially when smooth jet travel otherwise carries the illusion that you're sitting perfectly still. However, these shifts have zero effect on the safety or operation of the plane that you're on.
In rare cases, severe turbulence can suddenly shift the plane by several feet. While this still poses no danger to the aircraft, it can injure passengers by tossing unsecured objects and people around the cabin. Pilots do everything they can to avoid encounters with severe turbulence, but sometimes it happens anyway. This is why everyone on board needs to keep those seatbelts fastened and their bags properly stowed, just like the flight attendants never tire of telling you.
On your next flight, you probably will encounter ordinary, "bumpy" turbulence. You probably won't encounter severe turbulence—but if you do, your seat belt will keep you safe. And no matter what, you definitely won't encounter turbulence that endangers the flight, because such a thing simply doesn't exist.
I created BumpySkies because I believe that, for many nervous fliers, expecting turbulence—including its intensity and duration—makes actually encountering it less surprising and scary.
Think of it not so much a planning tool as a surprise-management device.
It's both common and natural to feel scared or nervous about an upcoming plane trip. BumpySkies was created by a nervous flier, just like you, as a tool that can help you find your own way towards managing your fear.
Here are some other resources that have helped me manage my own fear of flying, and which I frequently recommend:
A free online course by Captain Stacey Chance can help you gain new perspective on how flight works, and why it's so safe.
Patrick Smith's book Cockpit Confidential offers a caring pilot's advice to wary passengers.
Aircraft-tracking sites like FlightAware and Flightradar24 let you see how many commercial flights are zipping around the globe right now, with dozens taking off and landing even while you're reading this, all without incident.
Tools like these can help you realize that during your flight, you'll be part of a temporary but real community with hundreds of thousands of other people all over the world: those who are all up in the air together, on your way to far-away places. Many of them are nervous, too! But none of you are alone.