Was an Air China flight affected by a solar storm while flying? No, that's not true: In fact, Air China flight CA1524, departing from Shanghai to Beijing, encountered violent turbulence at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by @jjpatt5 on Tiktok under the title, translated from Thai to English by Lead Stories staff, " Air China airline gets affected by a solar storm while flying ". It opened:
Please check solar storms before taking a flight
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sun Jul 23 07:08:45 2023 UTC)
On July 12, 2023, a TikTok user uploaded a video taken during a flight, showing significant shakiness. The user claimed that the flight was impacted by a solar storm. However, Air China responded to the incident by clarifying that the Airbus A330-300 aircraft experienced unexpected clear-air turbulence during the journey. Passengers on board reported that the turbulence occurred approximately 30 to 40 minutes before landing.
While solar storms can indeed disrupt communications with the ground, potentially hindering pilots' ability to communicate with ground control or determine their position, they are not known to cause the type of intense shaking shown in the TikTok video. Following the official news and statement from Air China, there is no indication of any involvement of a solar storm in the turbulence experienced during the flight. Consequently, it can be concluded that the claim suggesting the flight was affected by a solar storm is unfounded.
