Editing Intertropical Convergence Zone (section)

==Hazards==
In the [[Age of Sail]], to find oneself becalmed in this region in a hot and muggy climate could mean death when wind was the only effective way to propel ships across the ocean. Calm periods within the doldrums could strand ships for days or weeks.<ref>[https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/doldrums.html "What are the doldrums?"] NOAA.  National Ocean Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service website, 01/07/20.</ref> Even today, leisure and competitive sailors attempt to cross the zone as quickly as possible as the erratic weather and wind patterns may cause unexpected delays.

In 2009, thunderstorms along the Intertropical Convergence Zone played a role in the loss of [[Air France Flight 447]], which crashed while flying from [[Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport]] to [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]] near [[Paris]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/01/air-france-crash-air-turbulence "Q & A Turbulences"]. ''[[The Guardian]]'' (1 June 2009).</ref> The aircraft crashed with no survivors while flying through a series of large ITCZ thunderstorms, and ice forming rapidly on airspeed sensors was the precipitating cause for a cascade of human errors which ultimately doomed the flight.  Most aircraft flying these routes are able to avoid the larger [[atmospheric convection|convective]] cells without incident.