What Was Your Scariest Experience(s) While in a Aircraft?

[db1959]

When my friend let me take over the controls of Cessna. Lets just say I didn't have feel for flying a plane.

 

[Jeff]

When my friend let me take over the controls of Cessna. Lets just say I didn't have feel for flying a plane.

I was given the controls of a F-16 during my incentive flight. Funny, I felt the same way.

 

[Hoosier8]

The day I went for a ride with "Crazy Ed Ladue".

A day of loops, falling leaf, stalls, etc. until I got sick.

The scary part was the next time we pulled his Luscombe out to wash, I called him over to show him the stress wrinkles in his wing skin about where the ailerons started on one wing.

It was after that when I learned of his nickname.

 

[Brandon]

In a helicopter above/around Mt. Rushmore back in the early '90s. I don't know what kind it was other then a 3 seater glass bubble type helicopter. The pilot took me and my dad up, found a huge area of rock, pointed the thing straight down and let it drop a bit.

 

[jeepfreek]

Flying out of Detroit to St. Louis via Chicago around 1990 for hockey. Every time we came into Chicago something happened.

And it was always going- coming back never a problem. The first time we were just about to touch down and it felt like someone pulled the air out from under the plane and free fell for no idea how much. We recovered then landed about 20 seconds later.

2nd time we were nearly on the runway when all of a sudden the pilot kicked it in the ass and climbed as hard and as fast as possible imo. We went back into the holding pattern and everyone was bug eyed looking for answers. The pilot came over and said "There happened to be a plane on the runway that shouldn't have been there." Great.

Third time wasn't the end of it all but we were diverted from Chicago to Louisville because of a snow storm. About halfway there we turned around and ended up landing back in Chicago.

 

[lww]

Three years ago landing in Atlanta from Jamaica. We got to a few hundred feet on the glide path and then all of a sudden full throttle and steep ascent. Circled once and landed. I was thrown down into my seat and jerked back. Worse than any turbulence I've been in.

Similar experience 30 years ago on a flight from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls coming back from leave. Blizzard conditions, near zero visibility, and the descent seemed to go on for a long time. I had given up looking out the window because I couldn't see anything, when suddenly we go full throttle and into a very steep ascent. When I looked out the window we were not over the runway, we were directly above the terminal building and the parking lot, and very low. After gaining altitude we circle around and the pilot calmly says:

"We're going to try that again from a slightly different approach."

Good landing on the second try.

--Bill

 

[XSVskill]

My squad was hitching a ride on a CH-53 from kandahar to our FOB. No sooner than we get seated and a marine seated next to me points at a damp area on his thigh then points up to the top of the helo, I assumed it was leaking hydraulic fluid and got the crew chief's attention and pointed it out to him.

This is his exact quote that he shouted into my ear, "no worries! let me know if it stops leaking, then we may have a problem!"

Those things always felt like they were about to fall out of the sky lol.

 

[DocGlock86]

My scariest but yet coolest experience ever...

I Was dating a girl who had an uncle that owned his own plane. I had only been on a couple commercial flights in my life and I had mentioned that I'd like to go up in it someday. Finally things worked out and he took me up.

Took off and once we were in the air he moved the controls over to me and said "here ya go". Talk about white knuckling the controls. For a few minutes I wouldn't even budge the control an inch. After a few minutes I finally started loosening up a bit and actually started flying.

Definitely sparked enough interest that someday I'm gonna look into getting my pilots license.

 

[Grunt]

Reading through the posts brought back additional memories:

Aerial refueling while a passenger in a C-5A Galaxy. Whatever the very small adjustments were that the pilot was making to stay connected felt to us in the back to be a mini-roller coaster ride. Some folks started throwing up in their helmets...

Flying NOE (Nap of Earth) in a C-130 Hercules over Georgia to Ft. Stewart. There were a few on us in the back with jeeps and the wild adjustments of flying over the terrain brought the helmets out again....people started puking. I almost did but managed to tough it out.

Flying long distance in a CH-47 Chinook. As we flew in the back of the aircraft the nose and tail started alternately pitching up and down...the troops sitting across from me pulled out their helmets and started puking. I closed my eyes and managed to avoid the same fate, but then I smelled it and got very queasy, my insides started getting queasy.....fortunately we landed soon thereafter and I avoided another upchuck situation.

Nothing like the smell of puke to get you motivated.

 

[loudninja]

airbus landing in Oakland CA with 50 mph crosswinds.
Bricks were shat.

 

[Sainte]

I just posted a video of a large plane falling out of the sky and it got me thinking about a couple of my experiences that scared me while airborne.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...o_large_cargo_plane_crash_in_afghanistan.html

What experiences have you had on aircraft that scared the doo doo out of you? It can be civil aviation, military, experimental or even alien abduction.

Two experiences in my life stand out:

1. I was flying from Indy to Chicago on a prop aircraft, sitting in a window seat over the left wing. As we got to altitude, I noticed the left aileron flapping uncontrollably in airstream. It was the back flap on the wing and I'd estimate it was 8 to 10 feet long. It was flapping rapidly; up-down, up-down. I looked at the right side and everything was fine there.

The aircraft was not reacting to this flapping. I called a stewardess over and pointed out quietly what I was seeing. She said that was normal, that was what they were designed to do. I thought she was blowing smoke, as I asked her to look at the right side. When she saw that, she went up to the cockpit. She never talked to me again.

I never knew what it was. I made no fuss about it and sweated out the remainder of the flight.

For you pilots out there, what would you say happened, and was that normal.

sounds like the flap actuator sheared off allowing the flap to..........errr flap.

2. Another propeller aircraft flight from Dallas to Wichita Falls, TX. We got to altitude for the short flight (maybe 45 mins) and the service cart started up the aisle. We were flying in light chop (turbulence) when they gave me my drink.

As I reached for my drink and got it, we got into heavy chop as we were flying under a thunderstorm. The aircraft was tossed to and fro. I was still holding the drink (Diet Coke), as we were being tossed around. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't drink it. In hindsight, I should have dropped it.

wait til you have a coke can hovering in mid-air right in front of your face....thats chop!

Us passengers were looking wildly at each other scared witless. It was scary as heck. I never flew that route again, I always rented a car and drove there from the Dallas airport.

replied

 

[Sainte]

I was in a hard landing back in 2000. busted my neck and back up pretty good. i still have problems with it and i am looking at surgery on my neck in a few months.

i figure i better do it while i'm still young-ish.

 

[Hoosier8]

My scariest but yet coolest experience ever...

I Was dating a girl who had an uncle that owned his own plane. I had only been on a couple commercial flights in my life and I had mentioned that I'd like to go up in it someday. Finally things worked out and he took me up.

Took off and once we were in the air he moved the controls over to me and said "here ya go". Talk about white knuckling the controls. For a few minutes I wouldn't even budge the control an inch. After a few minutes I finally started loosening up a bit and actually started flying.

Definitely sparked enough interest that someday I'm gonna look into getting my pilots license.

Beachcraft Model 35 also known as the "Forked-Tail Doctor Killer".

So called because Doctors could afford them and get themselves killed in them.

 

[Hoosier8]

I bought and got my license in a Cessna 150.

One day I went out during a kind of gray day and did not check the weather (a completely dumbass move), a huge mistake that did not turn out bad but could have. When I got back and pushed the Cessna in the hanger, a cold front storm hit full scale and it was a doozy, completely surprising me. I still think about that.

 

[churchmouse]

Small twin engine prop plane..pilot was my bosses son and we were flying to Chicago to pick up parts needed to complete a project on time. Must have been about 1975. I had no idea pilot was drunk until we were airborne and he said..."Take the controls" I am a bit sick. That was an experience.

Landing in Aruba in bad weather. Until you have experienced this it is hard to describe.

 

[flightsimmer]

I'm not sure it was scary because it happened so fast, more like bewilderment.
I was coming in for a landing on runway 050, the wind was 050 at 11 knots and it was a seemingly perfect day. I was about 2-3 feet above the surface at 70 mph when I suddenly encountered a 90 degree crosswind of 18 mph (it was recorded at the airport). My plane stops flying at 60 mph so it suddenly slammed down on the runway and I heard the landing gear break and it bounced back into the air nose up so I jammed the throttle forward and pushed the nose over to try to keep flying but it nosed in from about 30 feet up. All I saw was pavement and then it was quiet.
When my eyes opened there was nothing in front of me, the whole front of the plane was gone.
So fearing fire, I hit the seat belt release and rolled forward out onto the runway, they say I walked for about 20 feet before I collapsed onto the runway, I think I did walk but I had two broken ankles and my feet were on fire from the impact. My right eye socket was broken from hitting the compass and blood was pouring out of my nose. My left pinky finger was broken from the hitting the throttle arm and I just could not believe what had just happened. Took me more than three years to fully recover. I guess I'm lucky I didn't die.

 

[Hoosier8]

I'm not sure it was scary because it happened so fast, more like bewilderment.
I was coming in for a landing on runway 050, the wind was 050 at 11 knots and it was a seemingly perfect day. I was about 2-3 feet above the surface at 70 mph when I suddenly encountered a 90 degree crosswind of 18 mph (it was recorded at the airport). My plane stops flying at 60 mph so it suddenly slammed down on the runway and I heard the landing gear break and it bounced back into the air nose up so I jammed the throttle forward and pushed the nose over to try to keep flying but it nosed in from about 30 feet up. All I saw was pavement and then it was quiet.
When my eyes opened there was nothing in front of me, the whole front of the plane was gone.
So fearing fire, I hit the seat belt release and rolled forward out onto the runway, they say I walked for about 20 feet before I collapsed onto the runway, I think I did walk but I had two broken ankles and my feet were on fire from the impact. My right eye socket was broken from hitting the compass and blood was pouring out of my nose. My left pinky finger was broken from the hitting the throttle arm and I just could not believe what had just happened. Took me more than three years to fully recover. I guess I'm lucky I didn't die.

So basically a good landing eh?

 

[churchmouse]

So basically a good landing eh?

Well, yeah. He did walk away....not far or well but he did walk away.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Took me more than three years to fully recover. I guess I'm lucky I didn't die.

Ok, so, a little electricity over Arkansas . . . not so bad.

 

[deal me in]

Two come to mind. First was a thunderstorm/wind shear where we lost a lot of altitude in a short period of time. I didn't have my seat belt tight and hit my head pretty hard. Learned to tighten seat belt in bad weather.

Second was, I think, a tire blowout on landing, plane started shaking violently on landing. A guy up front had been sleeping and woke up screaming like a ***** which was kind of funny after I realized the plane wasn't coming apart.

Probably nearly 100 hours flying small planes and never had anything remotely scary happen. My buddy is a licensed pilot and he used to let me do a lot of the flying when we took trips or he was building hours. He had one close call, that I remember. It was wind shear on landing that almost put him nose first into the ground ahead of the runway, but I wasn't with him at the time. Probably would have cost me a new pair of underwear.