Has a plane ever lost a wing?

A jet was forced to make an emergency landing at Tampa International Airport after it lost part of its wing in the air. Officials at Tampa International Airport said a Cessna Citation was at 27,000 feet near St. Petersburg when the pilot lost the left winglet and part of the wing.



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From a practical point, no, a modern airliner will not lose a wing due to turbulence. Modern airlines are very tough and designed to withstand extreme turbulence. In theory, it might be possible. But to my knowledge, it has not happened to any jet airliner.

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Turbulence is a sudden and sometimes violent shift in airflow. Those irregular motions in the atmosphere create air currents that can cause passengers on an airplane to experience annoying bumps during a flight, or it can be severe enough to throw an airplane out of control. (The pilots) aren't scared at all.

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There are multiple reasons a plane can break up in mid-air, according to Landsberg, including over stress, turbulence, aircraft fatigue and corrosion.

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Severe turbulence can cause a plane to drop so suddenly that pilots temporarily lose control. But, again, that's not enough to crash the plane. That's not to say it's never happened.

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