Scariest commercial flight?

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I was in Atlanta waiting to take off in an MD-80, I was sitting on the starboard side of the aircraft, by the window and just ahead of the engine.  When the pilot applied thrust for pushback, the port engine whined so horrifically loud that I knew something was wrong.  I looked behind me and saw nothing unusual, other than immediately worried and frustrated passengers, as the whine was extremely painful to our ears.  I hit the flight attendant call button.  An angry pregnant flight attendant told me to turn it off for takeoff, I implored her to listen to the loud engine and told her the door was not sealed properly, shouting at the top of my lungs.  The other passengers were shouting "listen to him, listen to him, he knows what he is talking about".  The flight attendant angrily walked away and so I jammed that call button again.  This time the co pilot came back, heard what was wrong, slammed the door shut to the relief of my now pounding headache, and went back up front scowling at the flight attendant, who drew the ire of her fellow flight attendants and passengers for the rest of the trip.  The airline did not apologize.  I shall not name it since the incident happened so long ago.  I knew all of us passengers would have been hurt had that door blown out in the flight levels, assuming we would have even made it that high.  I was no hero, just someone fighting for my life and thank goodness for the passengers who helped me.

John

[birdguy 3,943]

Not so much scary as eerie.  An officer from my national guard weather flight and I were on a TDY trip Montana to support the army unit we were assigned to.

It was a night flight from Billings MT to Helena MT.  We had arrived a couple hours earlier in a routine Frontier flight from Denver.

The passengers were waiting in the departure area looking out the window at the aircraft, I forgot which type, but a 300 mile an hour turboprop toothpaste tube.  A single light was illuminating it as light snow periodically spitted on the plane and tarmac.

The flight was late.  The attendant kept apologizing and saying they were trying to find a pilot.

A pilot finally showed up and he and the co-pilot walked to the plane.  Then we started boarding.  Nobody said a word.

We took our seats and the door closed and the crew started the engines.

After one of the longest taxis to the runway I have ever encountered the engines revved up and the takeoff roll began.  The aircraft rotated and lifted off and almost immediately settled back on the mains and then lifted off again.

Still, none of the passengers said a word.

The aircraft climbed to it's cruising altitude and the cockpit door was opened.  The eerie cockpit light emanated from it.

There was a bright moon out that night.  And it lit up the scene and disappeared as we periodically flew in and out of cloud.

Still, none of the passengers uttered a sound.

We finally landed at Helena.  It was spitting snow.  As we departed the aircraft the passengers finally started talking.  The major I was with said during the entire flight he saw the headlines of the Denver Post saying Two Denver men die in Montana air crash.

Nothing went wrong but the situation that night was tailor made for an eerie flight.

Noel

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Because I worked always with out of town clients, mostly out of state, I was always waiting for the next assignment.  But I was home after a long time out on the road, trying to rest, staying with my parents which I usually visited when I was not asked to be at my Washington DC office on the other side of the country from the Napa Valley.  My Mom knew I was tired and I asked her not to answer the phone, there were no reliable pagers or cells back then, only my home phone and work phone and voicemail.  The phone rang, my Mom answered it, and she told me it was my boss.  Well I always figured I could not be called into work from Napa when my office was in Washington DC and my clients required arrangements to be made ahead of time before taking me in.  My boss said there was an emergency, the lead on the project was sick and they needed me to replace her, and the project was more than 2000 miles away, in Gaylord Michigan.  So I was proven wrong, I could be called in to "work", and it almost proved to be a fatal blunder.

I knew I could get to Michigan before midnight, our cutover hour, if I skipped SFO and instead drove myself directly to Sacto airport, about equal distance but with better, smoother less trafficed freeways.  So I drove there, our office travel agent had me on a United flight to O'hare connecting to a puddle jumper to get me to Pellston Michigan after a couple of stops in between, about an hour from Gaylord.

After we took off from our second hop in Michigan, cannot remember the airport, we ran into thick fog over Pellston.  We made our approach in the Beech propliner, but had to abort when the pilots could not call out minimums.  So we aborted, flaps retracted, went around again, and same thing, we had to abort the landing, could not line up with the runway in time.  The pilots then told us we were in bad shape, not enough fuel to turn back, we had to commit to the next landing or ditch somewhere if an unclouded lake could be found, not very appealing in early spring when the ground was still frozen.

Meanwhile my waiting colleague, who was told to pick me up because I did not want to waste time renting a car, saw what was happening and a frequent flyer himself he started biting his nails and grinding his teeth after our second approach.  So we made our third and final approach and I guess about a half mile before landing, I saw the tree branches above us on both sides of the aircraft whizzing by, the pilots decided to go in shallow to maximize their chances of seeing the runway in time.

We landed, and the first thing that happened is a deadheading pilot walked out of the airplane before the flight crew, and kissed the ground.  My colleague said "I thought you were not going to make it"

To make matters worse, the emergency was a ruse.  MY colleague had commited an infraction, I will not say what, with the client and I was brought in to take a report, write him up and make a recommendation for termination if necessary, since I was the senior Lead by that time.  I was not happy I was set up to be in that position.  I knew he had to be terminated for breaching one of our unforgivable sins with the client, but did not like stringing him along, they even made him drive me back to the airport and the next day at home I phoned in the report and sent a written one as well.  My client was all over me trying to apologize because they saw how terribly conflicted I was, and they let me rest after the long day's journey and near fatal flight to get there, which I told them about.

After that my message to my Mom if the phone rang was "he went out of town for his days off", never again did I allow myself to go thru something like that again.  I asked to be transferred off the project a few months later under threat of quitting, and onto a new one with a new boss, although I was always asked to help out on the old project when they ran short of experienced Unix leads.  The new project led me to my wife, and five years later a daughter, best move I ever made, all caused by that fateful night and experience on the way to Gaylord Michigan.

John

[Jude Bradley 659]

10 hours ago, Cactus521 said:

 pregnant flight attendant

I'm mystified that they would let crew in that state fly, after all in an emergency, they might have to assist passengers out of the airplane or do some heavy lifting.

[nealmac 260]

Nothing too "scary" for me. I fly a lot between Ireland and the UK with work. All short hops. Have had an aborted landing at Gatwick, due to a runway incursion. Had an extremely turbulent flight while coming home from a holiday in Lanzarote. Other that, my experiences have all been pretty good.

[SierraHotel 974]

6 hours ago, Jude Bradley said:

I'm mystified that they would let crew in that state fly, after all in an emergency, they might have to assist passengers out of the airplane or do some heavy lifting.

We have not always lived in a nanny state, I can remember when woman worked until a couple of weeks before full term, they had ashtrays by the bed in hospitals and all the doctors (i knew) smoked.

[overspeed3 410]

   It was November of 1982.  I was coming home from Barbados on a 747 after spending a week there with my now recently departed wife, RIP.  It was just after the U.S. invaded that dangerous little country, Granada. The plane was full of American medical students who left that country to return home.  After the seat belt sign was turned off, many of the students began walking up and down the aisles to visit each other. It got a little boisterous after a while.  The stewardesses (now flight attendants) keep admonishing the future doctors (?) to all take their seats, to no avail.  And then, after about an hour out, began tremendous turbulence:  I had flow on about a dozen flights back then, including a previous visit to Barbados on a 747.  Never had I experienced this kind of rocking and buffeting.  The flights attendants were just starting to serve lunch, and one of the services carts went flying down the aisle as an attendant went down to the deck.  Other attendants had trouble standing, trying control their carts.  This incredible turbulence continued for at least 20 minutes to the point where I thought my marriage would end on my honeymoon.  No students were walking around anymore.  Finally,it subsided, and it was a smooth flight back to JFK.  

Apparently, I found out that this bad turbulence was not uncommon in that part of the Caribbean/Atlantic Ocean in late fall.   Air inversions or something?  But the timing of it was not exactly conducive to my celebration of marriage.   

It was 1985, when I eventually became a fanatic flight simmer, starting with MS FS Version 1...

...     

[Howellerman 104]

A long time ago I flew out to KDEN (before they moved it way out into Kansas) to connect to Colorado Springs via a high-wing turbo prop (cannot recollect the model). I was visiting my Dad, and while old enough to drink alcohol was too young to rent a car which I would certainly do now - it is a pleasant drive along the base of the Rockies, and only a little over an hour and a half ride.

Anyway, as soon as we started to board we knew we were in trouble: the whole plane smelled like barf, a veritable Vomit Comet. It had just come in from Aspen and a weather system caused a lot of turbulence that took its toll on the passengers. I decided to sit up front so I could watch the flight crew (doors did not need to be sealed or locked back then). The flight attendant (she was called a stewardess at the time) gamely took our drink orders (gin and tonic, if you please) while the engines spun up. Plane was only about half full, and soon enough we taxied out, lined-up, and took off. It was immediately apparent that the turbulence in Aspen had followed us, as taking a drink of my G&T involved timing the up and down movements of my hand to accommodate the movement of the aircraft. 

The flight was short, but during descent the pilot came on the horn and said there was increasing cloudiness and turbulence around KCOS and it could get pretty rough. Being in the front I could see through the cockpit and it certainly was cloudy and turbulent. The first attempt at landing we came in too high and wide while dodging the clouds. Second time as well! The pilot comes on the horn again and says "folks, we have one last chance at this and it will be an aggressive bumpy approach. Otherwise, we go back to Denver. I used to pilot helicopters in Nam and I think we can do it. What do you say?" 

A number of exuberant "yeahs" and "go for it" shouts rang out in the cabin, and we came around for another approach. Since I could see through the cockpit I see that, yes, we were coming  in high and steep and the clouds were tossing us around pretty bad. Like a veritable window opening, the airport came into sight (it had gone into late dusk due to the missed approaches), all lit up and welcoming. Yes, we were still too high but our Nam Guy came through and we dived through that opening in the clouds and landed. Applause all around! 

Truth be told, it was more an adventure than anything scary, but we were pretty damn high! 

[birdguy 3,943]

John, I love turbulence.  It makes the flight more exciting.

Way back when I lived in Pueblo Colorado I was working for Air Research at the DOT test track.

I spent a summer working at the AirResearch HQ in Torrance California.  Every two weeks I got a three day weekend to fly home.

Usually the flight was a Continental DC-10 to Denver and then a Frontier Convair 580 to Pueblo with a stop at Colorado Springs. 

One of those afternoons it was quite turbulent and they had to skip the COS stop and fly directly to PUB.

The stewardess as handing out barf bags.  I declined and said you pay a dollar a minute to do this at an amusement park.

Another time I was flying a Mooney from Raton New Mexico back to Denver.  When I got abeam of Pikes Peak over Colorado Springs the aircraft started climbing.  I was caught in the mountain wave.  I throttled back and pointed the nose down and the ASI was in the yellow zone but I was still going up.  I turned east and flew out of it but not until I had been pushed to a bit over 13,000 feet.

I dearly loved mountain flying.

Noel 

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I took my nephew up in a ride in a 172 with a CFI, big mistake.  I took him for a copter ride over Frisco once and he loved it, smooth as glass.  But the chop out of Napa airport shook us around very well and although I told him it was normal and not to worry, it still bothered him and he asked to land, so we did.  Some years later I flew him and my other nephew down to Disneyland on wonderful Alaska airlines, we had the bulkhead seats which I loved, I told them it was "first class" and the flight attendants loved the honor even though it was coach.  I had to hold off from telling my nephews about the flight until we pulled up into airport parking, they asked why we were there and I told my oldest nephew to open the glove compartment, open the envelope, he saw the tickets and it slowly registered he was going for another airplane ride.  Remembering his experience in the 172 I told him flying on a jet on that nice clear day would be altogether different, smooth as glass.  And it was, he marveled that his soda did not even quiver in the smooth air, it was a treat for me to treat them to their first and only commercial flight ever.

John

[Mace 1,902]

Landed at Chicago-Midway (KMDW), in a SWA 737 classic.  This was probably in the late 90's I'm guessing.  Anyway, it was winter, the runway was partially covered in snow/sludge/ice.   There was a low ceiling.   And a nasty crosswind.    In real life, it is disconcerting to me, to know you are descending rapidly, but you can't see the ground -- we were in the OVC.   

We pop out of the clouds, and, we're no more than a few hundred feet above at best -- on short final.   Pilot drops it onto the runway with a bone-jarring thud (they tend to do that at Midway, get it down quickly to begin braking/reverse) -- you could hear a few pax exclaim "OH!" with alarm up and down the cabin.   Then, the aircraft began to skid -- just a little -- and just a little more -- as we were hurtling down the short Midway runway, at what seemed like a sideways angle.   

The guy sitting next to me had said he flew often, and was nonplussed at this whole state of affairs up to this point.  However, when we started sliding, he said quietly, but in a nervous, clenched way, "Bring it back in" -- meaning, a little rudder possibly to pull the nose back over.  Just as he said that, the nose began coming back over, thankfully, and the aircraft settled in.   Ahhhh.  Midway in January.

[planenut 19]

When I was in the Air Force I was flying back to Anchorage from Galena on a Fokker F27.  First thing that happened was on takeoff the pilot almost stalled the plane with too much nose up and loss of airspeed.  The ground was coming up fast but he managed to pull it out before we became part of the landscape.  The flight was rough and some little Indian kid threw up and stunk up the whole plane really bad.  Everybody was turning green.  The approach to Anchorage seemed ok until the landing.  Turned out he landed it 3 times before he brought it to a stop.  We all breathed a sigh of relief until he taxied into the parking spot at which time the left wing hit a maintenance stand and knocked it over.  The flight attendant was almost killed by about 15 people who ran over her when she opened the door.  Felt like kissing the ground even though it was cold and frozen.  I still think we were really lucky to have survived the takeoff stall.  

Jim

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Two worst landings I ever had were foreign air carriers, being such a frequent flyer my odds of being in aircraft incidents were bad.  One was a Lufthansa landing from Frankfurt into Bologna Italy, the aircraft stalled ten feet above the runway and slammed into the ground and the pilots up front heard the boos from the passengers, a cologne bottle in my suitcase was broken by the impact, the overhead bins came crashing down along with some oxygen masks.  It was a clear day but humid, so low ground turbulence or shifty winds might have come into play.

The second worst landing was a deception, as a frequent flyer I knew what was going on but did not say a word to my fellow passengers, I just waited for our fate.  It was an Air Canada flight coming from Toronto to SFO, a 767.  As we pulled close to 28R the pilot came on the horn and said we were going around due to a runway incursion.  But it was not a normal go around.  Instead the 767 slowed just above stall speed and flew over the runway low, low enough for me to see rescue equipment lighting up the bottom of the aircraft as we flew over.  We did our go around, landed normally, but were greeted by the entire airport fire department on landing, just in case I guess.  I presumed, though no mention was ever made, that an indicator light displayed a faulty gear warning, which can happen.

In Jackson Hole I came in, I sat in the back of the aircraft because they always fill aircraft rear to front, and I liked getting onboard as soon as possible (unless you are flying Southwest of course).  So I just waited for everyone to deplane before I even got up from my comfy seat, plus I was in no hurry to leave, I was flying there to install a hotel LAN and train them how to use it, and I always hit the ground running and went to work from the moment I checked in,  As I stood up, there was a huge bang, I was thrown into the other line of seats, hit my hip--ouch, then I got up to see what happened.  The baggage handlers rammed their cart into the side of the aircraft.  Bad for the arriving passengers who were going to depart back to Denver.  I went to the gate agent, told them what happened and they said they knew, they were going to have to ferry the 737 back to Denver on Oxygen, just in case the fuse was compromised.   Passengers shouting and screaming, mayhem, because it is not easy to get a replacement aircraft back into Jackson Hole from Denver.  A week later as I left my client I went to the same gate agent, recognized her.  I started rubbing my neck and pretending the incident injured me.  She looked alarmed at first, then saw my joke and with a smile said "you get out of here, you rotten man."  There was no mention of this incident in the FAA archives, so I guess an incident must be more serious to get listed.

Last, I was in a Venezuelan Avensa Cessna 402 coming back from Angel Falls and flying into San Jose, Venezuela.  The aircraft ran out of fuel on descent and the pilots had to come in steeply and declare an emergency landing.  We ran out of fuel because we had to go around huge thunderstorms, plus we detoured south of Canaima to view Angel Falls, which sadly was just a trickle due to the season.

Oh, forgot, a Delta 737 in Bozeman we were waiting to take off in blew an engine apart on startup. with a nice loud flash, bang and smell of kerosene smoke filling the cabin.  The pilot was nonchalant about it, not wanting to scare the passengers, and said "we had an engine blow, happens sometimes, we'll get you on another flight".  Wary of prior experiences with replacement aircraft, rather than reticketing right at the gate I ran down to the guest service counter, suspecting the replacement aircraft might be smaller and unable to accommodate all of us.  I was right, good advice if you ever have to deplane a cancelled flight looking for another one.  Also best advice--do not book the last flight of the day.  If your aircraft does not make it and cancels, guess where you will be spending the night?  Either home in bed or at the airport because all the hotels are full.  Planes, Trains and Automobiles, from a former road warrior!

John

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[brucets 94]

On a Sunday evening back in the 70s I was on a United 727 going to Las Vegas from Denver, with a stop in Grand Junction. Had a window seat as usual. As we were climbing out of Grand Junction in a driving rain storm there was a HUGE BANG and a bright flash of light that lit up the entire cabin! I felt electricity going down my right leg. The captain came on a minute or so later with voice quaking badly---said something about static electricity! Then minutes from LAS he came back on---voice still shaky---said we are going to the end of the runway after landing and drop the rear stairs. Said leave the airplane quickly and get away from it. Do not collect your personal belongings!! Said we have had a report of bomb on board!! 
 
I'll never forget the look on the face of the lady in front of me as she turned around and looked at me!! Stark terror! The whole airplane let out a collective groan and then dead silence till we got on the ground in LAS.
 
Apparently as we were taking off from GJT the crew got a call from UA operations and were advised that someone in Philadelphia (where the flite originated) called in a bomb threat. Then seconds later we got hit by lightening and the flight deck crew thought the bomb had gone off! (I saw this on TV and read it in the LAS paper the next day) 
 
I almost took the train home! True story!

Bruce

Edited August 31, 2018 by brucets

[birdguy 3,943]

I always travel by train anymore Bruce.  I can't stand commercial air travel anymore.

Last Summer my daughter took me to San Francisco for a father-daughter weekend.  I took the train out but had to fly back to Denver with her to spend a couple days with my grandson and son-in-law.

Herded like cattle through TSA then boarded a plane with little leg room and had to pay for a soft drink.

My mind went back a few decades when you were treated like a customer instead of a suspicious piece of baggage.  Maybe some of you recall the stewardess asking if you wanted chicken or steak for lunch.

Now I walk into an Amtrak station and go into the first class passenger lounge and imbibe in some refreshments.  Then your train is called and you take your luggage and walk down the platform to your car and the car attendant checks your ticket and asks if you want your bag in the luggage rack or in your compartment.  No TSA agent glaring at you or X-Ray machines or emptying your pockets and taking off your shoes.

You go to your compartment or bed room and there is a bottle of water and a snack waiting for you.  If you prefer coffee or juice go the center of the car to coffee urn.  

After we get underway the dining car steward comes through and asks you what time you want to eat dinner and gives you your reservation.  When your time is called you make your way to the dining car and are seated with some other passengers for interesting conversation.  You are given a menu with several choices and you leisurely eat your dinner and enjoy the company of your new acquaintances.

Then before the car attendant makes up your bed you go to the lounge car for a drink and a snack.

The downside is it will be miserable if you are a clock watcher.  Trains are notoriously late.  I never make same day connections.  I spend the night in a hotel and catch my connecting train the next day.

Noel