Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

The worst flight I have taken was a few years ago. Philadelphia to New Orleans. There was a major storm in New Orleans causing us to circle the airport for 45 minutes or so with heavy turbulence. Finally the pilot hit the wall of divert to Mississippi or try to land. He decided to land. Everyone on the plane took a deep sigh of relief when we landed. The only amusing part was watching a guy debate the barf bag and the person next to him holding his knowing he was going to follow suit if the first guy broke.

My friend's plane had to land in MS and refuel because of the severity of the storm.

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

I really don't know what the deal was. Something was up because the flight attendants didn't seem very much at ease. They are generally who I observe on a flight for nervousness.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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[ QUOTE ]
The worst flight I have taken was a few years ago. Philadelphia to New Orleans. There was a major storm in New Orleans causing us to circle the airport for 45 minutes or so with heavy turbulence. Finally the pilot hit the wall of divert to Mississippi or try to land. He decided to land. Everyone on the plane took a deep sigh of relief when we landed. The only amusing part was watching a guy debate the barf bag and the person next to him holding his knowing he was going to follow suit if the first guy broke.

My friend's plane had to land in MS and refuel because of the severity of the storm.

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I've never understood the storm thing. Its a huge aircraft travelling at fast speeds. How could rain and wind stop it from landing properly? Were you guys scared you might crash?

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I was on a flight that had to abort a landing because crosswinds were blowing the plane around enough to possibly force a wing to hit the ground.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

Well, did you cum or what?

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The worst flight I have taken was a few years ago. Philadelphia to New Orleans. There was a major storm in New Orleans causing us to circle the airport for 45 minutes or so with heavy turbulence. Finally the pilot hit the wall of divert to Mississippi or try to land. He decided to land. Everyone on the plane took a deep sigh of relief when we landed. The only amusing part was watching a guy debate the barf bag and the person next to him holding his knowing he was going to follow suit if the first guy broke.

My friend's plane had to land in MS and refuel because of the severity of the storm.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never understood the storm thing. Its a huge aircraft travelling at fast speeds. How could rain and wind stop it from landing properly? Were you guys scared you might crash?

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The intense updrafts and occasional microbursts of a large storm can definitely cause severe turbulence or even smash a plane into the ground like a toy. Its enough of an issue that planes avoid storms even when they aren't trying to land, so imagine trying to execute a precise landing when being tossed around by 50mph gusts of wind.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

Oh man, on one flight I almost had to sit next to a retarded guy. He was drooling and [censored]. It was gross. Fortunately I bothered the stewardess until she moved me.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

During a large storm, microburst and windshear (a large shift in direction and speed) are the major factors. If you go from a 25knot headwind to 25knot tailwind in a few hundred feet, resulting in a 50kt loss of airspeed will more than likely cause an airplane to "stall" or lose the required lift to continue flying. Depending on our weight, but the usual approach speed is about 140kts and our stall speed is about 115knots.

There was a delta L1011 that crashed in dallas in the late 80's and an American MD-80 in Little rock in the late 90's that both crashed from windshear/microbursts.

As a side note, enroute we try and avoid any storm by 50 miles.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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Well, did you cum or what?

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Jesus Christ man, there are just some things you don't talk about in public.

-d

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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Well, did you cum or what?

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Awesome.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
During a large storm, microburst and windshear (a large shift in direction and speed) are the major factors. If you go from a 25knot headwind to 25knot tailwind in a few hundred feet, resulting in a 50kt loss of airspeed will more than likely cause an airplane to "stall" or lose the required lift to continue flying. Depending on our weight, but the usual approach speed is about 140kts and our stall speed is about 115knots.

There was a delta L1011 that crashed in dallas in the late 80's and an American MD-80 in Little rock in the late 90's that both crashed from windshear/microbursts.

As a side note, enroute we try and avoid any storm by 50 miles.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, PilotMatt. This is very interesting to know.

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

There was a flight to Japan several years ago that hit some turbulence and think they said air pocket or whatever and dropped like thousands of feet in like a matter of seconds.
I remember reading about it some snowboarding mag cuz two prof snowboarders were on the flight

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

Wish me luck, I'm flying to Vegas today.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

For those of you with any sort of fear of flying, you should read some of salon.com ask the pilot series. He has written so many columns on everything and anything that occurs in a plane and what a professional pilot's take on it is.

His one on turbulence is particularly comforting.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

A flight years ago from Joberg to Nairobi. Our plane is delayed for something like two hours due to the fact that they can't find the co-pilot. The whole time we're sitting on the plane. Eventually the captain comes on air and says that he's sorry for the delay, but they really can't find the co-pilot. He then informs us that he's going to fly the plane anyway by himself. We are told that this isn't a big problem what with flying aids and the like, but if anyone has any misgivings then they are free to leave the plane now. We all look at each other in a bemused way, but nobody leaves the plane. Hey, this is Africa.

We take off and everything is cool until a few hours into the flight the pilot comes on-air once again. He has a very thick English accent. He says something like;

"Ladies and gentelemen, this is your captain speaking. Everything is in tip-top shape and we're flying along just nicely here on this beautiful African day. Just a small matter for your attention - I have to leave the cabin for just a moment, which as I'm sure you're all aware will leave us with an absence of pilots flying the plane. Do not be alarmed as we are flying on auto-pilot and I should not be gone from the cabin for more than a minute. Thank you for your attention."

click.

We all just look at each other as the little cabin door opens and the pilot steps out. He takes a large elastic band from out of his pocket and wraps it around the door handle, thus holding open the cabin door. He then walks down the central aisle of the plane to the bathroom at the rear. A hundred heads turn to stare at him as he walks casually by.

A moment after he enters the bathromm the plane enters a small pocket of turbulance, jolts up and down suddenly, and we watch in disbelief and not a small measure of horror as the elastic band snaps and the cabin door closes. One of the flight attendents scurries back to the bathroom with one of those frozen-in smiles and emerges moments later with the pilot tucking in his trousers. He half sprints down the aisle and then comes to a sudden stop as he surveys the situation before him. Not a word is said by any of us. We just watch.

There is a hurried conversation between the stewerdess and the pilot, which results in her rushing to the back of the plane and coming back with a small fire-axe. The pilot takes the axe, walks up to the door and starts chopping his way through. In his enthusiasm he makes the hole a little bigger than what was probably required. He hands the axe back to the stewerdess, reaches through the hole and unlocks the door. He enters the cabin and closes the ruined door behind him, even though we can plainly see him now through the gaping, jagged hole. He sits in his chair, dons his head gear and makes a small announcement;

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We've just experienced a slight technical diffuculty, but we now have matters under control. The weather in Nairobi is for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Thank you for your attention."

click.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

todd beamer would have a great story to tell

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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A flight years ago from Joberg to Nairobi.
[snip]
click.

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that is one of the single most entertaining stories i have ever read on 2+2. wow. wow. wow. hahahahahaha

TIA

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Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
A flight years ago from Joberg to Nairobi. Our plane is delayed for something like two hours due to the fact that they can't find the co-pilot. The whole time we're sitting on the plane. Eventually the captain comes on air and says that he's sorry for the delay, but they really can't find the co-pilot. He then informs us that he's going to fly the plane anyway by himself. We are told that this isn't a big problem what with flying aids and the like, but if anyone has any misgivings then they are free to leave the plane now. We all look at each other in a bemused way, but nobody leaves the plane. Hey, this is Africa.

We take off and everything is cool until a few hours into the flight the pilot comes on-air once again. He has a very thick English accent. He says something like;

"Ladies and gentelemen, this is your captain speaking. Everything is in tip-top shape and we're flying along just nicely here on this beautiful African day. Just a small matter for your attention - I have to leave the cabin for just a moment, which as I'm sure you're all aware will leave us with an absence of pilots flying the plane. Do not be alarmed as we are flying on auto-pilot and I should not be gone from the cabin for more than a minute. Thank you for your attention."

click.

We all just look at each other as the little cabin door opens and the pilot steps out. He takes a large elastic band from out of his pocket and wraps it around the door handle, thus holding open the cabin door. He then walks down the central aisle of the plane to the bathroom at the rear. A hundred heads turn to stare at him as he walks casually by.

A moment after he enters the bathromm the plane enters a small pocket of turbulance, jolts up and down suddenly, and we watch in disbelief and not a small measure of horror as the elastic band snaps and the cabin door closes. One of the flight attendents scurries back to the bathroom with one of those frozen-in smiles and emerges moments later with the pilot tucking in his trousers. He half sprints down the aisle and then comes to a sudden stop as he surveys the situation before him. Not a word is said by any of us. We just watch.

There is a hurried conversation between the stewerdess and the pilot, which results in her rushing to the back of the plane and coming back with a small fire-axe. The pilot takes the axe, walks up to the door and starts chopping his way through. In his enthusiasm he makes the hole a little bigger than what was probably required. He hands the axe back to the stewerdess, reaches through the hole and unlocks the door. He enters the cabin and closes the ruined door behind him, even though we can plainly see him now through the gaping, jagged hole. He sits in his chair, dons his head gear and makes a small announcement;

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We've just experienced a slight technical diffuculty, but we now have matters under control. The weather in Nairobi is for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Thank you for your attention."

click.

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better be in the book sir

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

I don't want to believe it, but I don't think anyone could make up a story like that.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

As per usual, fantastic story Ads!

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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Hi PilotMatt,

Great that we have a real pilot here! What did you think of what I wrote in the OP: Is that fairly standard? Do you think there is any real danger of dying/crashing when something like that takes place?

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It would take a pretty unusual event for anything to actually happen to the plane. When they were testing the Boeing 777, a test was performed to see it's resistance to turbulence. It took raising the wingtip 27' above level before there was any structural damage.

I was hit by lightning last year and there was about a two foot hole in the tail. We didn't even know that anything was wrong until we landed and inspected the airplane.

It also was about a million dollars to repair the plane.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

i thought i was going to win with my story of a dc-10 aborting a landing after touchdown, but i can't compete with that. that's insane.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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I don't want to believe it, but I don't think anyone could make up a story like that.

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sure they could [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

i believe it though

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
Japan Airlines Flight 123




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Way to go bureaucracy!

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There was some confusion about who would handle the rescue in the immediate aftermath of the crash. A U.S. Air Force helicopter was the first to the crash site, some 20 minutes after impact. The crew radioed Yokota Air Base to assemble rescue teams and offered to help guide Japanese forces to the site immediately. Japanese government representatives ordered the U.S. crew to return to Yokota Air Base because the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) were going to handle the rescue.

Although a JSDF helicopter spotted the wreck during the night, poor visibility and difficult terrain prevented it from landing at the site. The helicopter pilot reported no signs of survivors. As a result, JSDF forces did not get to the site as quickly as they might have, spending the night in a village 63 kilometers from the wreck, and not arriving until the following morning. Medical staff found a number of bodies whose injuries indicated that they had survived the crash but died from shock or exposure while awaiting rescue.[1]

The off-duty flight attendant who survived the crash recounted from her hospital bed that she recalled bright lights and the sound of helicopter rotors shortly after she awoke amid the wreckage, and while she could hear screaming and moaning from other survivors, this gradually died down during the night.[1]

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Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

this thread reminded me of that sick runway in st. maarten where the planes fly right over the beach

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes...tional_Airport

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

One time I went through security with my belt in my carryon. Problem was that my belt buckle was shaped exactly like a grenade.

The TSA people can be pretty scary if they think you have a live grenade with you.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

I was in a storm travelling back from Washington D.C. in 8th grade with a bunch of classmates. I had a window seat a few rows back from being perfectly even with the wing. The condensation was running off the wing and it looked kinda cool, so I mentioned to some of my friends to look out the windows at the water flowing off the wing. Right as they begin to turn towards the wing, lightning struck the wing of the plane in a crazy explosion of light. Numerous people screamed and it definitely scared the s**t out of me. After the initial panic, the pilot came on and said that we would be making a precautionary landing in Indiana (we were headed back to CA). He assured us everything was fine, but in the immediate moments after the strike we were all pretty shook up. After a 45 minute delay in Indianappolis, we were back in the air headed home.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

My dad was a captain for Northwest and it used to so annoy me how he didn't seem to even get fazed by turbulence etc.

We'd be flying from Det and be going through thunderstorms and severe turbulence where people are actually occasionally screaming etc...my brother and I would be sitting there holding on for dear life while my dad would be totally oblivious to the fact that everyone was terrified and he would just read a fishing magazine and kept bugging us about whether he could have our bags of peanuts.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

One time I turned on my ipod and the plane exploded in mid air.

Don't do that.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

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Right as they begin to turn towards the wing, lightning struck the wing of the plane in a crazy explosion of light.

[/ QUOTE ]



Reminded me of a gif from this article I read recently. If I saw this happen to a plane that I happened to be on, I would probably [censored] myself, and I don't scare easily on planes either.:

http://imgred.com/http://gizmodo.com.../ATT952177.gif

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

Was flying on Gulf air (never again...) from thailand to Greece with a stop over in Bahrain. The flight was like $200 cheaper than any other airline.

The plane was late and when we got on most of the TVs didn't really work and the speakers sounded like [censored]. Seats were old and crap looking etc.

Things were fine until landing where our decent was basically droping 300-400 feet in a sec or two (I saw this on the altitude meter on one of the few working TVs) and then leveling off for a few seconds then doing it again. A lot of the plane was screaming. The pilot didn't say or do anything.

1st time flying with a middle eastern airline so I was kinda scared anyway.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

My late father told used to travel to South America extensively out of Miami International.
In the early to mid 70's, on two sperate occasions, he was on flights that were hijacked. Both times by cuban nationals who wantd to go Havana.

First incident... after takeoff , jacker stood up holding a small molitov cocktail and a zippo lighter hollering "Havana Havana !" Pilot made a WIDE rudder only turn( no lean) out over the water and landed BACK at Miami( it was dark)...plane stopped on the runway and the jacker..thinking he was in Havanna exited the plane as fast as he could, right into the arms of waiting SWAT( or whoever).

Second time, jacker stood up waving a large knife...same thing..."Havana, Havana !" This time there happened to an out of uniform Marine who basically almost killed the guy when he backed by him in the aisle

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

the scariest would have been that egyptian flight where the douchebag pilot decided to kill himself by putting the 747 or whatever it was into a nosedive at like 40,000 feet. Unlike most flights where the plane crashes there would have been like 0 warning...just flying flying everything is good. BOOM freefall nosedive till the plane ripped apart.

A guy who came into where i used to work had a cousin who died on that flight.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The worst flight I have taken was a few years ago. Philadelphia to New Orleans. There was a major storm in New Orleans causing us to circle the airport for 45 minutes or so with heavy turbulence. Finally the pilot hit the wall of divert to Mississippi or try to land. He decided to land. Everyone on the plane took a deep sigh of relief when we landed. The only amusing part was watching a guy debate the barf bag and the person next to him holding his knowing he was going to follow suit if the first guy broke.

My friend's plane had to land in MS and refuel because of the severity of the storm.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never understood the storm thing. Its a huge aircraft travelling at fast speeds. How could rain and wind stop it from landing properly? Were you guys scared you might crash?

[/ QUOTE ]


wind

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

By dad's good friend went to Alaska to gain hours as a bush pilot. His buddies had some crazy ass stories of flying in on runways in winter with massive crosswinds.

I don't know how guys can fly in that weather...but these [censored] were all crazy as hell.

Re: Scary Air Travel Experiences
 

[ QUOTE ]
this thread reminded me of that sick runway in st. maarten where the planes fly right over the beach

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes...tional_Airport

[/ QUOTE ]

Been there, done that. Stayed at the hotel in the left of the picture in that link. LOVE St. Maartens!!

T