Pilot Pete Cappio Says Turbulence Alone Will Never Take Down an Airplane

Flight turbulence might have you longing to land, but it can't actually bring down an airplane ... so says pilot and reality star Pete Cappio.

We had Cappio on "TMZ Live" Friday ... and, we had to ask him about the recent incident where 25 people were hospitalized after intense turbulence threw them around the airplane cabin.

Cappio says, while this video is jarring, people shouldn't assume the whole airplane would go down because of an event like this ... 'cause planes are made to withstand even the most powerful turbulence.

In fact, Cappio explains, the biggest issue to passenger safety is exactly what happened in this incident ... flying debris and unbuckled seatbelts leading to a whole lot of injuries.

Cappio also sticks up for Boeing a little here ... arguing that he wouldn't get onboard one every other week and fly them if they weren't able to handle turbulence -- though he does admit the company's had its issues recently.

Sounds like turbulence isn't anything to freak out about ... though some passengers may still pray for solid ground when getting jostled around up in the air.