Posted on 06/07/2018 10:44:27 AM PDT by BBell
A passenger jet plunged through the air “like a rollercoaster” after it flew into a thunderstorm, dropping thousands of feet as it was bombarded with strong winds, hail and lightning.
“Things were flying. Passengers throwing up. Scariest flight of my life,” said Jesse Esparza, who was aboard the American Airlines flight from San Antonio, New Mexico to Phoenix, Arizona.
With its nose and windscreen badly damaged by hail, the plane was forced to divert to El Paso for an emergency landing.
“I never thought I’d have to buy in-flight WiFi to message my mum goodbye,” Mr Esparza added.
Pictures of the plane on the runway showed its nose caved in and its windows covered by a web of cracks after it was battered by hailstones of up to three inches in size.
“I keep looking back at the photos and getting chills,” said another passenger, who did not want to be named. “We had no idea how bad it was until after we landed.”
She told ABC15 several passengers had panic attacks after the aircraft hit severe turbulence about 30 minutes after taking off.
Mobile phones flew through the air, drinks splashing the ceiling, and passengers sharing sick bags during “five minutes of hell”, she added.
Mr Esparza said the plane then dropped “like a rollercoaster”.
He added: “We dropped so hard that objects in people’s laps start flying inside the aircraft. My seatbelt is pulling against my waist keeping me in my seat. Babies screaming. I start hyperventilating. I grab my phone and sign on to the WiFi. I text my mom that I love her
(Excerpt) Read more at newsannapurna.com ...
When did Air Traffic Controllers begin routing aircraft through thunderstorms instead of around them?
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That occurred under 0bama’s air controller diversity hiring practices.
“Is there an emotional support hamster onboard!?”
““The radar data is different than you get from Weather Channel or the Weather Service,” he told the Washington Post. “What you have in the cockpit has a much shorter wavelength. They don’t get the full picture, just the front end.””
Wundermap on Weather Underground is only 5 min. delay from actual time. Could not the flight crew have a tablet online to check the radar “full picture”?
I picked a bad day to quit sniffing glue.
Bang Ding Ow’s revenge!
Yikes.
It's my personal taste, but of all the Mexican cuisines in the US I like the New Mexico style the best. Have to visit Northern New Mexico every now and then to eat my fill. Yum!
I saw a FR thread about that but could not remember the title, but I think that was it.
Airbus A319.
A badly damaged one!!!
HaHaHahaHa! I kill myself. Don't forget to tip your waitress!
The front bit is missing so maybe it’s only a 317.
Just moved to Albuquerque YES, NM Mexican cuisines are da best!
Let’s the peppers do the talk’n!
http://www.sadiesofnewmexico.com/
(PS b/c they don’t fill their dishes with cilantro/coriander!)
I agree along with a Las Vegas New Mexico too where Cocina Raphael is....maybe best New Mexican food there is
My dad was born in Artesia
g grandfather and g grandmom buried there
Uncle and aunt buried vets cemetery Santa Fe
I love New Mexico but I knew San Antonio NM didn’t service passenger jets
I’m driving back from LA next month....may have to try that place tks
Seems like a classic case of Clear Air turbulance.
No, I am not a travel expert, but a OCD lifetime reader, and I just had the good fortune of recently reading the most enjoyable book of my life (I hate the word "best" when expressing an opinion,) in terms of learning many facts I had never learned before related to flying. I had a good start, having earned my Student licence a long time ago--- then I got married.
The name of the book is The Electra Story : The Dramatic History of Aviation's Most Controversial Airliner, by Robert J. Serling, 1963.
I do not mean to hijack the thread, but this is a rare opportunity to question passenger aircraft pilots, both ex-military and civilians, who I've seen post on this forum.
By way of background, I offer this little factoid:
"...the closest thing we've seen to the number we're after—18 percent of Americans said they had never flown in their life, meaning that 82 percent had. By 2009, the amount of people who flew a commercial airliner in the previous year had risen to 39.85 percent in the Omnibus Household Survey.Jan 6, 2016...", my impression is that today most Americans have not flown commercial.
A large portion of that book discusses what is called "an obscure (unknown) theory of physics that could "tear an airliner apart" in seconds.
To ultimately solve the mystery of the series of accidents, another issue plays a major role.
There is a long known phenomenon along the westerly slopes of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, known as the Sierra Wave, which unfortunately covers a distance from Lake Tahoe south. But the specific location that Lockheed repeatedly visited ultimately to solve the mystery of primary cause is never mentioned in the book.
Where is the exact location along the Sierras where the Wave was visited while testing proposed "cause and fixes" for the multiple Lockheed Electra accidents?
That is my question.
Hundreds of the best engineers from every airline manufacturer (including Lockheed's competitors) volunteered to join the search for the answer, and there must be a few still alive, or the CAB/FAA records must be, to provide an answer.
I apologize for the long post, but there is no brief way to summarize the mystery and its solution.
Best detective story, fact or fiction, that I have ever read, including both the writing and the editing.
The primary cause of aircraft accidents, is what the post accident board is supposed to accomplish. There have been many many discoveries that have saved future lives. One of the interesting stories related to that particular type of aircraft is it still is flying where the English Comet which had a somewhat similar beginning is not.
Outstanding read.
Yes I did, LOL!
That's what got me started here in FR about two months ago, and from there I bought and read 4 other books about Flying Boats, Pan American and WW2 in the Pacific.
Since I grew up in San Francisco, I knew all about Treasure Island and Alameda. Not in the 30s or 40s, of course but in the 50s and 60s. Not much has changed out in San Francisco Bay.
Finally, while buying books on Flying Boats on Amazon, The Electra Story popped up as a "recommended book..."
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