Flying the Turbulent Skies

[3894]

You saw that a jet from D.C. on its way to California hit significant turbulence, had to land in Colorado to get 20 injured passengers to the hospital?

So, anything even close to this ever happened to you?

I was on a Northwest flight from Minneapolis to San Francisco. At that time, they served a lunch menu matched to your destination. For San Francisco, it was a soba salad. Out of the blue, no warning, the plane lurched - whomp! - to the left, sending noodles high into the air. We lost enough altitude to feel it in the pit of the stomach. Thank heavens it was lunchtime so we were all in our seats. The injuries were bumped forearms and other little minor things. The captain handled the passengers really well, explaining to us that it was an unpredicted windsheer and he would get us out of it quickly, which he did.

Your turn!

[Alex]

No, but it isn't uncommon for Lani to ask how a flight was and my response is "great! there was a lot of turbulence."

I like turbulence and while I'd be sorry people were hurt, if such flights are going to happen I'd like to be on one. That's the actually fun version of rollercoasters.

[katiesue]

I'm also a turbulence fan. My best friends dad had a plane and we'd fly all the time. He'd take us up then drop and let us float around for a few seconds. It was great. Until they built the runway he'd land in one of the neighbors fields, but you had to buzz it first to get the cows to move. A lot of people would get sick about then but I thought it was great.

[RStar]

I don't fly much, but all of my flights (including to and from Europe) were quite mild. All of my turbulence occurs on the ground, particularly under the sheets first thing in the morning.

[Kevy Baby]

Not as much a turbulence issue, but similar: we were coming into Ontario (CA) and the cross winds were particularly bad this day. We made one pass and got blown so far off to the side (maybe 20 feet above the runway), that the pilot had to gun it and take off again. Second pass, same basic thing.

At this point, the pilot got on to announce that he was going to make one more try and if he was unable to land, we were going to be diverted to John Wayne (Orange County) or LAX.

As we made the third attempt, the pilot hovered about 10 feet above the runway for a couple of seconds and then slammed the plane down hard. But we landed and were alive. One of those instances where the entire plane broke into applause upon landing.

It was from that landing that I learned the difference between a Navy landing and an Air Force landing. Since Navy pilots are often landing on aircraft carriers, a hard landing is a Navy landing. Since the Air Force is typically landing on nice runways, a smooth landing is an Air Force landing.

[scaeagles]

I saw a TV special about a plane that encountered excessive turbulence which turned out to be caused by electromagnetic interference radiating from an island below. Plane broke in half, if you can beleive it.

[JWBear]

And all souls on board were lost?

[€uroMeinke]

While I've had some turbulent trips, they don't match the flight with the engine fire - which I watched flare on my way to the restroom in the back of the plane which was then filling with smoke.

I went back to my seat, followed the instructions to remove my shoes and sharp objects from my pockets, tucked my head between my knees as we had an emergency landing in Vegas on a runway lined with a fleet of emergency vehicles.

I was comforted in knowing these planes were designed to fly on one engine - of course a few weeks later a plane lost an engine and spiraled into the ground, so I've come to better appreciate my circumstances.

[BarTopDancer]

I'm sure my version of massive turbulence over TX on the way to WDW was minor compared to what you're looking for.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

While I've had some turbulent trips, they don't match the flight with the engine fire - which I watched flare on my way to the restroom in the back of the plane which was then filling with smoke.

I went back to my seat, followed the instructions to remove my shoes and sharp objects from my pockets, tucked my head between my knees as we had an emergency landing in Vegas on a runway lined with a fleet of emergency vehicles.

Assuming a survived landing (which is a hard thing to assume) and Lani wasn't along (since my fear for her is generally much more than my fear for myself) you just described something that sounds like a whole lot of fun.