What is the scariest aircraft ride that you have experienced do to a mistake or mechanical failure?

Answer 1

C-130 Outta Liberia 30Min's from Airfield. Over the Adriatic En Route to Brindisi Italy

#1 Engine DIED.
We got 3 left no problem. Pilots will restart.

28 Min's from Airfield.
#4 Engine DIES.
OK NOW I'm getting kinda worried, I am after all just a wrench turner. Crew is STILL attempting a restart on #1

10 Min's from Airfield. Nothing to see but water.
#2 Engine DIES.
Now at this point I make my peace with God cause I know that the Herky Bird don't GLIDE all that well, and the Idea of a water landing is just scary to me

On Runway attempting to taxi to hardstand.
#3 Engine Dies. They tow the plane in we WALKED

Bad Fuel. The Crew Chief that tested it Lost 2 stripes. Pilot got a Reprimand.

Answer 2

I was once flying from New Delhi to Chennai. It was the begining of the rainy season...that is the begining of the cloud formations and I was anticipating some rough flight. And it sure was, after flying around 1 hour that we entered in some turbulent area (I wonder what the pilot made out from his weather radar, and eventually flew through that eye of the storm). It was so bumpy that at two points my head literally could have hit the luggage storage above, if I hadn't wear the belts. I could see the lightening in the clouds, outside the window (it was an evening flight and was dark outside) and the wings were fluttering up & down that I could feel the noise they were making. It was raining hard and at some points the aircraft seemed to deflect at one partcular angle, although flying continously. It was very very noisy. It continued for around 10-12 minutes and I found myself praying. Then, it was damn calm just like a normal flight. What I guess is the pilots didn't anticipate that it would be so rough and decided to carry on through the eye of the storm instead of diverting the route. Secondly, there were some cross wind-shears which made the travel the worst one in terms of the comfort.
Later, I read it somewhere that wings of Airbus are more flexible than Boeings, and they flutter a lot during such flights. I felt like kissing the land when we landed at Chennai, half an hour later. More importantly, I saw the pilots (white faced, sitting like dumbs & probably thinking something, in the cockpit), which made me to think that they too were scared (I may be wrong but that is the impression I got). It sure was like riding through the 'twister'.

Answer 3

Aircraft are so overbuilt and crews are so well trained that I would have to be on an aircraft that actually crashed before I was scared.

By the way, this is all personal opinion, I know a lot about aviation being from the inside so I am much more comfortable than many people who might not know how much goes into really keeping them safe.

Again, my personal opinion and I really have not had a bad experience either.

Answer 4

I think the scariest aircraft is the plane which is having Rolls Royce Allision 250 engine in it, the fastest and the most powerfull engine in the world. If we fix a room of 10 sq feet with one Rolls Royce Allision 250 engine, the room will move with a speed of 8 km/h.

The Rolls-Royce Model 250 is a highly successful turboshaft/turboprop engine family, originally started by a General Motors offshoot, the Allison Engine Company, in the early 60's.

Allison adopted a rather unusual "trombone" style of engine configuration for the Model 250: although air enters the intake/compression system in the conventional fashion, the compressed air leaving the centrifugal compressor diffuser is ducted rearwards around the turbine system, before being turned through 180 degrees at entry to the combustor; the combustion products expand through the 2-stage HP turbine, which is connected, via the HP shaft, to the compression system, before expanding through through the 2-stage power turbine; the exhaust gases then turn though 90 degrees to exit the engine in a radial direction; a stub shaft connects the power turbine to a compact reduction gearbox, located inboard, between the centrifugal compressor and the exhaust/power turbine system. The engine configuration is shown clearly in http://helicopterflight.net/engine1.jpg

One of the latest versions of the Model 250 is the -C40, which has a hi-tech centrifugal compressor pulling a pressure ratio of 9.2:1, at an airflow 6.1lb/s, and developing 715shp.

Some of the earlier versions have axial compressor stages mounted on the HP shaft to supercharge a relatively low pressure ratio centrifugal compressor. The -C20R is typical, pulling an overall pressure ratio of 8.0:1, at an airflow of 4.0lb/s, with a power output of 450shp.

As a result, nearly 30,000 Model 250 engines have been produced. Of these, approximately 16,000 remain in service. The Model 250 is one of the highest-selling engines made by Rolls-Royce.

Answer 5

In my short time as a pilot I've had :

Nosewheel tire go flat ( in flight!)

Flaps become stuck down

Engine run rough, due to bad magneto

Went through a "small" thunderstorm. It was really in the beginning stages, but it got my attention!

(I've only got 600 hours of flight time and I am working on a career as a pilot. So, more experiences are to come.)

-As a flight attendant, there was a landing gear issue with the plane I was on. It turned out to be a minor problem and we landed safely, but when the thought of an actual accident with you trying to get 30 people out of a damaged airplane really hit me, I almost became ill (after the fact).

I also flew through a small tornado as a flight attendant departing Washington-Dulles three summers ago. Learned about it after we landed in Roanoke, VA.

As a passenger, I was on a 737 when we flew through the wake of another aircraft or hit clear air turbulence. Very abrupt roll on what was a totally calm morning AND that was the only turbulence we hit that flight.

Answer 6

This happened two months ago. We were smuggling some Chewing Gums out of Malabar Island.
The plane was a single engine amphibian Cessna Skyhawk. Superb weather!

But suddenly, Boum! midair collision with an unidentified falling object while flying at about 22,000 feet. Perhaps a meteorite? or a tear dropped from the abodes of Olympus?
We had lost the right wing and were spinning like crazy! Both me and the pilot managed to eject but Magidu, my poor iguana didn't make it sigh :(
Debris from the aircraft pierced my chute and I was falling at terminal velocity! I was about to faint but then thought of having one last treat before crossing to the other side...
I unwrapped a bubble gum and started chewing. It then suddenly hit me. I blew it into a huge ballon and managed to gently float down to safety.
I landed on some uncharted little island. The noble natives celebrated my arrival from the heavens with a wild party that lasted two weeks!
Such a beautiful island! Delicious fish, juicy exotic fruits and the most exquisite flowers. I'm writing from my cabana right now :)

oh and if you ever fly over the Seychelles and notice a tiny heart shape island, be a love and toss a load of chewing gums and Coffee Crisps!
Cheerio :)

Answer 7

The flight was very bumps, and mind you this was back in the day when the piolts allowed patros to come in the cockpiit and say hello so i went to the cockpit to see what the problem was. Too my supprise there was a pinguine in the piolit seat i was terrified... because everone knows pinguins cant fly! so i threw that retarded bird out of the seat and landed the plane. you probably havent herd about this at all... another goverment cover up.

Answer 8

The time I was riding shotgun in an O2 FAC. We were low and took enough ground fire to take out both engines. Hello, jungle.

Answer 9

Hey mortal, I don't have an answer for this, but I do for your question about your ground school trouble.

Seriously, you seem to spend hours in yahoo answers every day. Maybe you should be applying that time to studying.