Flying takes guts!

If you've flown before, you know how nerve wracking turbulence can be. Mom flew in from TN last night and Jerry and I went to pick her up. It was very windy here last night and Mom came off the plane all pale! Have any of you ever had any scary moments on a flight?

I remember flying into NewZealand through a storm. It was a very bumpy ride for a while and got a lot worse as we approached for landing. The pilot did an amazing job landing - so smooth, everyone clapped! I think people were quite relieved to be getting off the plane.

I have only flown a few times and had weather problems both times.

When we went to Bermuda on our honeymoon, we had to fly above/around a hurricane. There was quite a bit of turbulence. On the way back, it was also very rough and the pilot had a difficult time landing.

When we went to Ireland we took off in the middle of a huge Nor'easter. There was 10 inches of snow on the ground, was very windy and they were comparing it to "The Perfect Storm" . We had to wait while the deiced the plane and cleared the runway. It was very turbulent the whole 5 or 6 hour flight. I was pretty much sitting there waiting to nosedive in the ocean. I am a huge chicken. The flight back was a piece of cake after that. It was strange to be flying over the open water all day and to only be able to see ocean with large chunks of ice floating in it.

I am lucky, I must have flown over a 80 times and I've never had any major scares.

I fly all the time and turbulence can still be frightening. But my worst time flying was in a helicopter and the rotors iced up. We were really falling until the pilot managed to get things started again. That was REALLY scary. And I was pregnant at the time - I remember wondering my baby would ever be born.

I remember flying when i was a kid on our way to Newfoundland. We were on a small prop plane (maybe dash 7 or 8), flying through what seemed to be a pretty clear night when suddenly the plane dropped off to the left (felt like we went over the top of the hill on a rollercoaster). The pilot recovered but said nothing so we had no idea what happened. He came on about 20 minutes later to tell us we had been hit by lightning. It went in our right wing and out the left, and then went and hit a barn below us (word is burnt the barn to the ground!).

I've flown 1-2 times a year since I was about 5 so it dosen't phase me that much. I've been in heavy turbulance but have never had problems with air pockets and such. I have flown above a storm before and thought it was really cool to see the lightning below us.

Actually what freaks me out is having a plain deiced.

Oh Susie!!, I could write a novel on this subject!!

When I was about 10 years old, I went on a trip to Florida with my family...on the takeoff leaving Florida...just as the main wheels were coming off the ground there was a loud BANG..and the airplane settled back onto the runway for a moment. The pilot was on his toes and pulled us off (there was no more runway left) I looked out onto the left side of the plane and the engine was on fire!!. Just as we rotated we ingested a bird into the engine. The pilots stayed calm, shut it down and returned for a single engine approach.

Of my own scary moments I've had a few.....

everything from severe icing, in flight medical emergencies, system malfunctions, rough running engines. But that's why we practice again and again and again!

Wow!!

Originally Posted by Miss Mew

Oh Susie!!, I could write a novel on this subject!!

When I was about 10 years old, I went on a trip to Florida with my family...on the takeoff leaving Florida...just as the main wheels were coming off the ground there was a loud BANG..and the airplane settled back onto the runway for a moment. The pilot was on his toes and pulled us off (there was no more runway left) I looked out onto the left side of the plane and the engine was on fire!!. Just as we rotated we ingested a bird into the engine. The pilots stayed calm, shut it down and returned for a single engine approach.

Of my own scary moments I've had a few.....

everything from severe icing, in flight medical emergencies, system malfunctions, rough running engines. But that's why we practice again and again and again!

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I fly all the time, the worst turbolence i had was from Rome to Bankok the plane literally bounced and we were so scared

We did have a medical emergency once. They decided not to do an emergency landing but they had ambulances waiting when we landed.

We sat for several hours on the runway in a fairly small plane in Kansas City because they had been having trouble with their radio communications. This was after an arguement with a very rude man and a flight attendant tht wanted me to give up my seat because this idiot had "important business" and they had overbooked. I didn't feel like going in to my reasons for needing to stay on the flight, (3 funerals and a only 1 person that would pick me up at the airport 4 hours away) and that really made them mad. Then there was terrible turbulence, rain, and the flight attendant would not serve me any alcohol. I could have kissed the ground when that plane finally landed in Atlanta.

Oh Denise.......

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

We sat for several hours on the runway in a fairly small plane in Kansas City because they had been having trouble with their radio communications. This was after an arguement with a very rude man and a flight attendant tht wanted me to give up my seat because this idiot had "important business" and they had overbooked. I didn't feel like going in to my reasons for needing to stay on the flight, (3 funerals and a only 1 person that would pick me up at the airport 4 hours away) and that really made them mad. Then there was terrible turbulence, rain, and the flight attendant would not serve me any alcohol. I could have kissed the ground when that plane finally landed in Atlanta.

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We have flown many many times and had more than our share of turbulence - usually when flying to the US. I suppose that's what happens when you fly in storm season.

The 2004 flights back from Newark were the worst, bad storms that year, I think we came back on tail of Tropical Storm Bonnie. I normally keep my seatbelt fastened anyway during a flight, but on the way back the pilot had the seatbelt sign fastened for just about the whole journey. On top of that the flaps made a horrible grinding noise on the way out of Newark and when we got to the UK, we noticed a distinct reluctance to extend the flaps all the way and the pilot had great difficulty losing speed and altitude to make the landing. I was never so glad to land safely.

I think the saddest journey was the one where our pilot died. We had to stop at Montreal to get a new flight crew as the stewardesses were all so sad and the co-pilot had flown all his hours.

No turbulence whatsoever, for the 2 times I've flown....
& I'm really hoping there won't be any when I leave for Ireland in a few days! I'm already scared to death, being carried over the ocean for 6 hours and not being connected to land. Any turbulence would scare the @!#% outta me!!!

Patty, my experience of the transatlantic route at this time of the year is that it is quite a pleasant experience - it's the July and August time that is the scariest.

Don't worry about the long flight, chances are you'll never be far from land. Normally flights go across Canada, Newfoundland, Greenland, near to Iceland and into the UK. You're never far from an airport

They'll feed you so many times and give you so many films to watch the time will go by really quickly.

Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

Patty, my experience of the transatlantic route at this time of the year is that it is quite a pleasant experience - it's the July and August time that is the scariest.

Don't worry about the long flight, chances are you'll never be far from land. Normally flights go across Canada, Newfoundland, Greenland, near to Iceland and into the UK. You're never far from an airport

They'll feed you so many times and give you so many films to watch the time will go by really quickly.

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Thanks. I know.... I know in the back of my mind that we're not going to crash, and (hopefully) there won't be a terrorist but still it's very scary for me! Weird thing is though I want a window seat lol even though I'm terrified of heights. I just figure, so long as I'm up here and there's nothing I can do about it, I may as well enjoy the views

I've only had one bad experience, when we hit an air pocket and the plane fell quite far... I thought my stomach was gonna come out my nose!! I'm a terrible chicken myself so anything worse than that and I better be medicated soon after!!

Originally Posted by sweetiecat3

Thanks. I know.... I know in the back of my mind that we're not going to crash, and (hopefully) there won't be a terrorist

but still it's very scary for me!

Weird thing is though I want a window seat lol even though I'm terrified of heights. I just figure, so long as I'm up here and there's nothing I can do about it, I may as well enjoy the views

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You will do fine on your flight. I know alot of people that are really afraid of flying..and myself I'm afraid of heights too (I work as a pilot for a living I know kinda weird)...I'd suggest you do get yourself a window seat...alot of the whole fear of flying is the feeling of no control, at least if you can look outside it will help. Also everyone is so afraid of turbulence....remember that those aircraft are certified to withstand way more stress than they will ever encounter (a 747 could do a loop and still stay in one piece) don't worry your pilot won't do anything that strange!

Originally Posted by Miss Mew

You will do fine on your flight. I know alot of people that are really afraid of flying..and myself I'm afraid of heights too (I work as a pilot for a living

I know kinda weird)...I'd suggest you do get yourself a window seat...alot of the whole fear of flying is the feeling of no control, at least if you can look outside it will help. Also everyone is so afraid of turbulence....remember that those aircraft are certified to withstand way more stress than they will ever encounter (a 747 could do a loop and still stay in one piece) don't worry your pilot won't do anything that strange!

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You're a pilot?! I didn't know that... that's so neat... and yes I'm planning on getting a window seat. And mostly.. I wouldn't mind turbulance so long as I know I'm safe... It's just a fear of crashing or a terrorist or something I know the chances are very slim but still.....

But, that actually helped a lot, hearing this from a pilot lol. You sound so professional and like you know what you're talking about!
Thanks!!