Your Scariest Flying Experiences

[Ted and Holly]

When we lived in NH, we flew Pan-Am for the first couple trips to WDW. The second trip, probably early 2001, we had a rather disturbing flight.

We took off an hour late. This was actually good for Pan-Am. We got over Rhode Island and we started doing S-turns. The Captain announced that there was "traffic" over DC, so we had to wait a bit before we entered their airspace.

Well, I was no good at motion. I have gotten better, but i was NOT handling the S-turns well. I got very pale and I ALMOST passed out. Luckily, I did not feel like throwing up, but it was pretty scary for Holly, as I was supposed to be the calm one.

We soon resumed levwel flight and I was ok.

Another 45 minutes go by (more of less) and the flight attendants are serving beverages. Oddly, it started to look like the plane was angled DOWN.

The flight attendant noticed too and she asked the passangers up front, "Are we decending?" Immediately, BONG. She went to her station and snapped closed the curtain.

A minute later, she got on the microphone and in a not-so-confident voice told everyone to fasten thier seatbelts and that we were going to decend due to mechanical issues.

Within a few tense minutes, the Captain got on the microphone and said that there was a SMALL crack in one of the outer windscreens and that we needed to get under 10,000 feet and slow down to be safe. We would be making an unscheduled "stop" at Raleigh/Durham Airport. Well, we came in for a landing at R/D and the runway was lined with emergency vehicles. That was REALLY not fun to see.

We waited an hour for a gate to clear. R/D was not a place normally serviced by Pan-Am and Corporate had to work out a deal with the airport to let us use a terminal.

We finally got a terminal and we got off the plane. The captain opened the door to the flight deck as we were getting off and I saw that one of the windscreen was COMPLETELY shattered. Not blown out, it is safety glass. But there was not a piece bigger than a pencil eraser.

We were told that another plane would be there in 45 minutes. That turned into over 6 hours.

We ended up traveling for 12 hours that day. And to think, it should be less than a 3 hour flight.

We never flew Pan-Am again after that.

Ted

 

[JVL1018]

When my daughter was 3 months old, we flew to FL-the reservations person from Delta, when I went to buy a seat for DD told me not to buy a seat, it's a waste of money, and being a new Mom, I didn't know much about that, so I went with his advice.
Trip down was fine..the trip back we had turbulence so bad, my husband could barely hold the baby in his arms. It was horrible!
Never in a million years would I(or did I) ever fly without a seat for my kids. I wish they would chnage that rule..and looking back I can't believe airline employees would actually encourage customers to do that. I didn't even know it was an option to have a lap baby before he told me.

 

[Trish5768]

My DH and I were coming back from our "adult" only Disney vacation as we were going in for a landing all the sudden the plane started to go up. I don't know if I'm describing that right, we were definately descending and could see things on the ground well, all the sudden we start going back up.

Pilot came on a few minutes later and said there had been a slight problem and that we were going to "attempt" to land coming in from the west. The silence in that plane was eerie. You knew what everyone was thinking. We landed with no problem but I tell you, it was one of the scariest things I've ever experienced.

 

[mallcat]

On a business flight to Boston Logan, we lost an engine. Actually, the throttle got stuck and they could not get it fixed or reset during the flight. We went out over the water, dumped the fuel so we would not explode upon impact, and were prepared for a crash landing. Pilot told us to get in the brace position--in other words, grab your ankles and kiss your butt goodbye, literally. The flight attendants got out the first aid gear and strapped themselves in. People were crying and writing notes to family members. Thankfully, we did land safely, with emergency vehicles waiting for us. I was praying the whole time. I didn't cry until I got back home from the trip and saw my mom. Then, I lost it.

When we got to our business meeting, we were the topic of conversation with all the other divisions. They were going to make us all fly back on different flights because they didn't want to take a chance on losing entire management teams.

United Airlines sent each of us a voucher for $250 for any flight. None of us used them. I had to fly again by myself two weeks later. I've been a white-knuckle flier ever since.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

The worst one I had was flying from NC to BWI. My ears were popping so bad, it felt like my head was going to explode. The lady next to me had the same thing happen to her. I kept imagining that something was wrong with the air pressure in the plane. I was partially deaf after landing for an hour or more. My friend that picked me up was talking and I couldn't hear what he was saying. it was really scary!

 

[DisMN]

Why am I reading this thread when I leave in just a few days?