Though pilots have learned to expect clear air turbulence anywhere, “these kinds of turbulence events specially the ones where people get hurt are not very commonplace,” Capt. Sean Cassidy, National Safety Coordinator of the Airline Pilots Association told NBC News. Between 2002 and 2011, the FAA has recorded 329 crew and passenger injuries from turbulent flights in total, a tiny fraction of the estimated 800 million people who fly on domestic and international each year. …

The bad news is that research suggests our travel is likely to get bumpier in the coming decades. Computer models have predicted that climate change and increased carbon dioxide levels will speed up the jet stream, leading to more serious episodes by 2050.

“We’re talking about a doubling of the frequency and a 10-40 percent increase in strength,” said Williams, who authored a study that examined the future of turbulence along the trans-Atlantic route, published last year in the Nature Climate science journal. Another study that looked at a 10-year collection of U.S. pilot reports of turbulence, did log a “slight increase in their numbers over time,” the study’s author NCAR researcher Robert Sharman wrote to NBC News in an email.