In
aerodynamics, the
Crow Instability or V.C.I vortex
crow instability is an
inviscid line-vortex instability, named after its discoverer S. C. Crow. The Crow instability is most commonly observed in the skies behind large aircraft such as the Boeing 747. It occurs when the
wingtip vortices interact with
contrails from the engines, producing visible distortions in the shape of the contrail.