What scarey experiences have you had on any flight? any close calls?

Question

I love to fly, but am curious?

oops! sorry about the "?" above.

Answer 1

I've never experienced bad turbulence until flying from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City in May. People were screaming and swearing as we were thrown all over the place. That was good times. However, the freakiest experience was while flying from Raleigh to Salt Lake City. I was talking to my friend and the girl next to us, when I looked over and saw the guy across the aisle cough up this bloody phlem thing into his hand. It was HUGE. I thought I was going to vomit right then and there. The three of us just stopped talking and stared (rude, I know, but we were in shock) and just as I was about to call for a flight attendant for him, he started poking and playing with the bloody pile. It was seriously nauseating. The three of us looked away so as to not be so obvious as we were gagging and laughing. But, when I dared to look back over and make sure he was okay, he was wiping the bloody thing onto the seat of the chair next to him. It was by far the worst flying experience I've ever had, but it's lead to a lot of great laughs over bloody phlem guy.

Answer 2

I am a frequent flyer who is deathly afraid of flying.

I have flown all over the place, Europe, Asia, Africa, all over the US and I am usually calm enough not to cause any problems.

I am fine during takeoff and even during the steep turns. I don't really mind during turbulence that much, BUT- once severe turbulence sets in, I become unmanagable. I become drenched in sweat and can hardly contain myself.

On a recent flight from Colorado to California, we hit severe turbulence (the pilots referred to it as "wind shear") above the rockies. The pilot turned on the fasten seat belts sign and mentioned we were flying into a massive cumulonimbus cloud. The turbulence became so severe that many people on board were screaming. As I was looking out the window, I witnessed a bright flash (like when an arc welder is welding) accompanied by an intimidating "BANG!!". Suddenly, the airplane dropped in altitude (extremely dramatic) and we were fishtailing all over the place. I felt like I was being tossed around- almost like being in a car accident. The plane was almost sideways and I felt stong surges in many strange and unpredictable directions. I was terrified! It seemed to me like the pilots were totally out of control, when they came over the intercom and announced that we had been struck by lightning. They claimed that it was a normal occurance, but that it jolted the auto-pilot system and we would have to make an "unscheduled landing". They reassured us that everything would be fine, but that it would be quite a bumpy decent. I seriously thought we were going to crash.

I was flying with my 4 year old son at the time- I am a large framed- pretty tough guy, but I was a complete wreck (many other passengers were in tears). I have never flown quite the same ever since.

Later I consulted with a pilot friend of mine who told me that the wings of a 747 are so strong and flexible that it is unimaginable that turbulence could actually cause a plane to crash. He told me that the wings could stretch up to 25 feet above the fuselage and still hold tightly and not snap.

Answer 3

During takeoff from St. Louis, our dc-10 ( The one with the vertical stablizer problem that causes an inability to return to stable flight from a bank ) took off, banked to the left and was almost 50 degrees before the pilot was able to regain control. They said it was normal, but shortly ( Month or 2 ) after, the 1st dc-10 went down. Will never fly a dc-10 again.

Answer 4

I saw a very big jet land on a runway once, and it was cool. The only problem was that there was another very big jet waiting to take off in the other direction. OOPS! This was at the Atlanta airport. I saw it when I was watching planes take off between flights.

Answer 5

I was in Chicago at O'Hara & we were waiting for the okay to takeoff. When the pilot came on the PA & annonced that we could not takeoff because a wheel needed to be changed.he said in about 20 minutes we should be underway. Well, 20 minutes came & left, then he comes on the PA again & announced that they were having trouble with the tire jack.Finally, after about an hour & a half we finally took off.But, it made me very nervous because of all the trouble they were having with the tire jack.

Answer 6

No scary experiences..

The strangest thing was when I went to Israel a few years ago. They have the tightest airline security that I have ever seen. So strict that everyone needs an interview from someone before entering a plane. They argued with me for not speaking Hebrew even though I was only going on a vacation.

Good for them! I wish all airport security checks is as strict as EL AL.

Answer 7

My airplane dropped about 50 feet twice in about a minute. The pilot came on and told all passengers and flight crew to sit down immediately and fasten belts. Within 30 seconds we got slammed. People were screaming and puking.

When we landed everyone clapped for the pilot.

Answer 8

We were going to Minn/St paul airport from Memphis, on the way to a Mission Trip in Canada. It was a hot stormy day around the country, and when we arrived over Minn/SP, the pilot comes over the intercom,"Ladies, and Gentlemen, We need everone to be seated and buckled in (You could see the clouds billowed HIGH OVER us, ahead), we are about to hit turbulence. The Airport has been closed for the past hour, and we're going to try and make a landing." ONE MINUTE LATER, while in the 757, the plane takes a 45 degree DIVE! The girls on the trip, were like,"YEE HAH!' And I'M like, "I HOOOPE you are RIGHT!!" The plane DIVES through the clouds, and levels off below. When we LEVELED off, at about 10,000 feet, I looked to the right, and I see a BOLT of LIGHTENING hit, about 100 fight to the RIGHT of the plane! I SCREAM, "WOWWWWWWWWW!" We landed safely, and went on to Canada, the next day!

Answer 9

I fly long haul flights at least twice a week. For 18 years. no major scarey experiences. problems happen. as long as you can walk away from the plane, you're alright.

Answer 10

I've flown quite a bit and there have been near misses and landings that took too long to stop, but I think the scariest thing is to watch the wings flex up and down during heavy turbulance. Every time it looks like they're about to snap right off.