[SuziQ]

Ted Fujita, for whom the Fujita scale of measuring the destruction levels of tornadoes, was the one who first brought up the idea of micro bursts being the natural mechanism by which some planes can be brought down, even in times of moderate winds. No one believed him, at first, but he proved it.

I was telling one of my older brothers about this. Gerry used to be a pilot, and he recounted having been through one when he was flying for a commercial airline. Thankfully, they were not near the ground at the time, but he said that he was flying along, and suddenly the plane just dropped about 600 feet. They were trying everything to get the plane back up, with no success, then suddenly he said it was like you were in an elevator going right up again. He's thankful that never happened to him on takeoff or landing.

[EEDUDE]

“Thankfully, they were not near the ground at the time, but he said that he was flying along, and suddenly the plane just dropped about 600 feet.”

Try that in a glider. You will immediately understand the full meaning of the word “helpless”!

But I’m still here!

[susannah59]

I was telling one of my older brothers about this. Gerry used to be a pilot, and he recounted having been through one when he was flying for a commercial airline. Thankfully, they were not near the ground at the time, but he said that he was flying along, and suddenly the plane just dropped about 600 feet. They were trying everything to get the plane back up, with no success, then suddenly he said it was like you were in an elevator going right up again. He's thankful that never happened to him on takeoff or landing.

I was on a flight once when something like that happened. We were going along, nice smooth flight, clear skies, when suddenly the plane dropped like a rock. Scary.

It was a Delta flight between Atlanta and Dallas, on one of those really big jets. I'm not an airplane person, but I remember it was one of the jets with five seats across in the middle and three on each side.