Posted on 08/31/2016 5:03:22 PM PDT by BenLurkin
She said: “We were at least three hours into the flight, everybody had eaten and was asleep.
“It was very quiet. There seemed to be lots of children on the flight.
“Then out of the blue the plane just dropped and everybody who was unbuckled went flying.”
She said people flew headlong into the ceiling of the plane, suffering cuts to their heads. A few passengers had broken bones, she claimed.
...
The flight attendant across from me, she slammed her head. She’ll need stitches.”
The plane plummeted twice, Ms Boriack said, and during the second fall many of the flight’s 207 passengers were screaming.
“Each drop lasted a couple of seconds. There was a loud bang. We assumed it was something in the galley.
“That was when everybody got really scared.
“The worst part was during the second drop – people were screaming. I had to keep my cool.
“It felt like a rollercoaster. The drops were that long.
“I was very scared, but other people were screaming.”
...
She added it was another three hours before the flight arrived in Shannon.
There was no warning and the pilot did not address passengers until about five minutes after the turbulence, she said.
“He just said it was very unexpected turbulence. He said normally they see the warning signs and go around it,” she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at standard.co.uk ...
WOW! That’s extraordinary. I find that the flights to and from Asia are always much more bumpy that those from the West Coast to Western Europe (which is what I’m flying now).
A commercial pilot friend told me after our incident that this CAT (Clear Air Turbulence) was not dangerous but very unnerving for the passengers. I agree with you that the incident we were in took the fun out of flying for me too.
The plane crash scene in “Alive” was probably the most intense one I’ve ever seen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Cerritos_mid-air_collision
Having seen what it actually looks like when an airliner hits the ground, I had a really hard time flying for many years. It doesn't look like what they show in the movies. I still prefer taking my time on the ground, but sometimes you just have to fly.
I was thinking of the book Airframe.
This is the very reason they ask you to buckle your seat belt whenever you are seated.
Was headed into Anaheim Stadium to watch baseball and caught the collision in the corner of my eye. Went ahead to the game but it was an unhappy experience.
I just noticed that was 30 years ago, today.
Wow. 30 years ago today.
Our plane dropped 1,000 feet
According to the memorial, that was 30 years ago... Today!
The first time on an airplane as a child, not a huge one, it almost crashed, made emergency landing. I didn’t realize the import, but the event must have been some kind of imprint, as I’ve always hated and feared flying.
Once on a flight between Oahu and the Big Island, the turbulence was so bad the flight attendent was pouring sweat, walking up and down the aisle trying to assure passengers as he held on to keep from being thrown to the ground, while people screamed and prayed. It was very stormy and windy. When the plane landed, I was the last one out, and I heard the FL and pilot talking. The FA had been a helicopter pilot in the military (somehow I found that out, maybe he said during the flight, can’t remember, it was early 1980s) and told the pilot “I thought we weren’t going to make it” and the pilot replied “I didn’t think so, either.”
They didn’t realize I was still on the plane.
I wanted to fall on the ground and kiss it when I got off the plane. I don’t intend to fly ever again. Car, boat, little red wagon, walking.
That would have scarred me for life!
I vowed never to leave the Big Island. But did eventually.
Seeing that crash in LA would have scarred me for life, for sure.
I had a feeling....I just had a feeling... But I thought you’d post the point/counterpoint guy.
I fly to SE Asia twice a year. Had turbulent flights before, even during dinner time. Weird thing was, I was calm because my seatmate didn’t have that look of terror on his face. I asked him ‘dude, you didn’t look scared bro”. His answer: “because I already accepted that if it’s your time to go, it’s time to go.’
I say, “Let ‘em crash!”
Commercial airlines really avoid the bad weather that can be seen. In fact, they seem to avoid mild and moderate weather, too.
But clear air turbulence is difficult to avoid.
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