What causes wake turbulence?

• A. Turbulence caused by weather fronts.
• B. Wingtip vortices created when an airplane generates lift.
• C. Engine exhaust mixing with ambient air.
• D. Ground effect turbulence.

Answer: (B)

Wake turbulence comes from the lift that the wings generate. When a wing creates lift, air from beneath rushed around the wingtip to the area above the wing, forming a pair of counter‑rotating vortices that trail behind the airplane. These wingtip vortices sink and drift with the wind, creating turbulent air in the aircraft’s wake that can affect following airplanes, especially if they are large, slow, or close behind.

Weather fronts and atmospheric turbulence aren’t what sets up this wake; engine exhaust plumes aren’t the persistent wake behind lifting wings, and ground‑level turbulence is a near‑the‑surface effect, not the lift‑related wake behind an aircraft.