Have you ever been on a scary turbulent flight?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I'm curious what it was like? I've been on quite bumpy flights before, but the flight attendants always looked fine/ bored, so I wasn't worried and just kept watching whatever film. But I'm lucky as have no fear of flying in general, so perhaps easy for me to dismiss it.

Has anyone been on a really frightening flight where you were worried things might deteriorate? Did you get on a plane again after?

@capercaillie

Have had bad turbulence flying into Bangkok and Singapore - both caused by storms I think.

Was more bothered by a landing at Amsterdam - supposed to be on way to Tanzania. We turned round over Germany spent several hours jettisoning fuel over the North Sea. Landed with fire engines speeding alongside. Apparently was issue with landing gear. Before that I didn’t drink on flights, but pretty quickly changed that.

Oh, did you go to Arusha? I did that one a couple of years ago, visiting a friend. I've never seen such a rush to get off and tear across the tarmac, ducking under the wings to get a short cut, run, run, get to immigration as fast as you can! Luckily my friend warned me to book seats near the doors.

[quote Flugbusters4444]@WhatHaveIFound sedated by the crew? That is a lie dear. They are air crew, they cannot dispense controlled drugs.[/quote]
Depends on the country

Yes, landing back in Birmingham late at night returning from Fuerteventura. High winds and rain, plane rocking from side to side and juddering. People screaming. Landed with a real this and a bounce! Was so glad to be back on the ground.

I really shouldn’t be on this thread as I’m a very nervous flyer - everything that isn’t absolutely smooth conditions counts as bad turbulence for me. Having said that, I have had a number of flights where everyone on board has gone absolutely silent as we’re thrown about, although thankfully no oxygen masks, screaming or vomiting. The most recent was landing in bergamo. I took the opportunity to go to the toilet just as we started the descent because I knew it might be a while before I’d get another chance, and while in there the thing started bumping about like crazy. Came out and had to sit in the nearest empty seat next to a terrified looking couple as there was no way I could get back to my own. I felt weirdly ok as I knew whatever happened, it was all going to be over very soon as we were coming in to land! I find the having to sit there for extended periods with turbulence far more unpleasant - as soon as I feel the plane dip down as the landing begins I feel more relaxed.

A funny one was flying to iguacu falls. We were nearing the airport when the plane started dropping and bumping about. The pilot barked out an announcement to the crew to take their seats - and they jogged to them! This was rather alarming, and my face must have shown it because the guy sitting next to me asked if I was worried. I told him I was concerned that the crew had run to sit down, and he told me it was always bumpy due to the air pressure above the falls. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

Another one years ago (although not turbulence related) was when we were taking off from Toronto late afternoon and the it was discovered that the landing gear had a fault so we circled around for what felt like ages. Had to return to the airport and then they kept us sat on the plane for 2 hours and it was sweltering. Finally allowed off and were put up in a hotel overnight and were put on a different aircraft the next morning for our flight home. Beyond exhausted but was glad to be back!

*landed with a real thud, sorry typo

Yes! And it's made me hate flying ever since!
Also once was travelling with DD when he was 4/5 - went in to land and suddenly 'took off' again - the plane felt as if it was vertical. There was a lot of screaming (I didn't as didn't want to frighten DS) but I remember looking behind me to see if there was a fireball 😖
DS, meanwhile, had his hands in the air laughing and saying it's like a rollercoaster

I don't think I've had many flights which have felt calm! Twice I've been on planes taking off through thunderstorms and the first time you could smell burning and see orange bursts of flames as we were being hit by lightening. The second time I started crying so loud at it happening again and a lady behind me rubbed my shoulders and told me she was a pilot and not to worry. I still howled until it calmed down though. Another time I've flown and the cabin crew had to strap themselves down. But that rollercoastery feel that PPs have mentioned? - I've experienced it on nearly every flight I've ever been on, apart from some really nice flights between cancun and miami, with glorious views of the carribean sea! The first thunderstorm scarred me so much from flying that a couple of years later I took trains and boats back from.the same destination! It took five days!! I dont think I have any more stamina for all those bumpy flights any more now, especially with a LO, so I'm even thinking about only doing overland trips now that I'm older and can plan a bit better! The irony is that the first time I flew I was almost 18 and had been mentally preparing myself for months by watching air crash videos and what to do in a plane crash and learned all about the turbulence- then my first flight felt so smooth- like being in some weird lift. I remember texting relatives telling them I had arrived on my first holiday safely and that I had LOVED flying and in my opinion there hadn't even been enough turbulence and that I didn't think I had gotten the full experience. Then it was the returning flight which was my first thunderstorm take off! Be careful what you wish for!

I remember flying alone to visit my french exchange friend, in northern France. In my memory the plane was tiny although I'm sure it wasn't that small, and the conditions were so stormy/windy that we couldn't land where we were supposed to for ages so we skidded onto some airport to refuel before taking off again to make another attempt. The pilot sounded slightly unhinged just as we took off again and I remember a man in front of me making the universal sign for 'he's been on the wine' .

The turbulence was pretty extreme and the cabin crew weren't the most reassuring, probably because they were trying to do their job while not being flung around the plane. We were 5-6 hours late, a journey that was supposed to take about 45 minutes I think.

I was unsurprisingly a bit traumatised, it.took me a couple of days to sleep properly because I kept reliving it when I closed my eyes. My parents, when I told them about the horrible journey, thought it was hilarious. The bastards. I was 15 and thought I was going to die!

I wrote about it in my diary for weeks. Nothing that exciting happened to me again for ages .

On the way to Bali for our honeymoon it was bumping along the whole way, which was fine, and then the plane suddenly felt like it dropped in the sky. Luckily no oxygen masks or anything came down otherwise I think I’d still be in bali now 😂. It didn’t help that one of the cabin crew had crossed himself (drawn the cross with his hands) prior to take off, oh and we were flying with Malaysian airways, & prior to departure they’d warned us to keep our seatbelts on as we’d be flying over Syria 🤔🥺.
Needless to say I was very pleased to arrive in one piece and get home safely too! I’ve been on a couple of flights since then but definitely fear flying now!

Apart from that one, every other flight I've been on has been fine. Normal levels of turbulence, nothing to write home about.

Now the BEST one I've ever been on was one of those family package holiday flights. Big group of kids between 4-8 in several rows in front of us. As we were about to touch down the cry went up...

WE'RE GOING TO LAND!
WE'RE GOING TO LAND!
WE'RE GOING TO LAND!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It was absolutely hilarious. The whole plane was in fits

Indonesian internal flight on a very local airline in an elderly (1970s) Boeing we flew into some storm at cruise altitude. I have flown a lot and been in unpleasant turbulence but this was the only time I have been scared the plane might actually just break in half. Everything that wasn’t screwed down was being flung into the air and everyone was either crying/screaming or praying including the cabin crew. I sat there in the brace position. Absolute silence from pilots and nothing at all mentioned about it when it finished which didn’t feel very reassuring. I was absolutely traumatised and spent the two weeks at our destination (very eastern part of Indonesia) being terrified to take the return flight, which turned out to be fine. But it still scares me when I think of it. 😱

Yes, two. One from Stockholm to London, it was so bad that a member of the cabin crew got thrown up on and hit her head on the roof of the plane and her head was bleeding. Second was New York to London. We went through a storm so you could see the lightning. It felt like every dip we did was 10s of 1000s of miles, the plane just felt like we were dropping out the sky, the plane shook too, and it went on what felt like forever. It was worse somehow than the Stockholm flight because I just closed my eyes and silently sobbed, because it was so terrifying.

Flight to Brazil one engine failed over ocean, pilot said not to worry have 2 more and if another one goes will make emergency landing.

Flight back from Australia had lots of turbulence and food flying everywhere, rollercoaster type drops DS thought it was great, DD was crying with ear ache.

Though most concerned I have been was being driven by a driver in Brazil on a motorway and he kept shutting his eyes and appeared to be having 1 minute naps all the time. All the passengers were worried and one of the Argentinians offered to drive instead. He carried on and we got there OK, felt sorry for him as he looked so tired but he said no to stopping for a sleep or different driver.

Stockholm flight was 2012, New York flight 2018.

I've only had a handful of flights so not much to go by but I think my first that I remember was the bumpiest. It was London-Paris which I think was only an hour anyway, but it felt like the turbulence lasted quite a while. It wasn't really bad compared to some of these stories, but like being on a fairly wild bouncy castle. I was only 7 but aware a lot of the adult passengers were anxious about it, which I thought was strange because my big sister was hysterical with laughter (genuinely enjoying the ride!) and I was taking my cues from her, so overall it was an enjoyable trip for me! I actually think my brother and sister and I having a great time helped to relax (or at least distract!) some of the other passengers and the cabin crew seemed grateful to us for this! When we landed they gave us all the leftover fizzy drinks and crisps and things, which I think must have been a sort of 'reward' for helping diffuse the tension on board.

As an adult I don't enjoy flying at all unfortunately. I wish I could tap into my 7-year-old self during turbulent spells!

No, but I've been on a flight that had a bomb threat against it (although we didn't know that until just before leaving the aircraft).

I have never been on a plane that landed and braked so fast! We were immediately surrounded by fire engines and the steps were rushed up to all entrances. We were told to leave all luggage and the staff were almost pushing us off the plane and when we reached the tarmac the groundstaff were shouting "run, run, away from the aircraft!"

It was terrifying, but what sticks in my mind most was the stupid woman who was trying to get her souvenir vase out of the overhead locker . . .

(There was no bomb, but two flights had been named and had to make emergency landings).

The first time I flew, it felt like a giant had got hold of the plane and was shaking it up and down.
The cabin crew ran to their seats and strapped in. I ask my partner at the time who was a frequent flyer is this normal, he told me yes, so despite being a bit perturbed I wasn’t terrified.
It was only when we were through the turbulence he told me that he thought we were about to go down!

Took off in a thunderstorm in Thailand which was like being in a cocktail shaker, lots of people screaming and being sick. I also seem to have bad luck landing at Glasgow and Edinburgh which I sid often pre-covid, always very turbulent landings due to crosswinds.

I don’t actually mind the turbulence, the thing that gets to me is people vomiting in close proximity to me, it’s my worst nightmare.

Many, many years ago, I think it was a propeller aircraft, and there was a fire in one engine so we had to land in Khartoum and stay there overnight. Fortunately I was a child and had no real idea of what was going on, but it must have been pretty hellish for my parents.

My first ever flight was horrific. It was to New York, and it had to be diverted to avoid a storm, but it really didn't feel like we avoided it. It was bumpy practically the whole way, with huge drops regularly. I was terrified and I've been phobic of flying ever since.

3 years later I had to fly, no choice in the matter, and both flights there and back were absolutely smooth; not one bumpy part whatsoever.

I so wish that'd been my first flight. I still don't go abroad because I hate the idea of flying. If I'd had the positive experience first I would have travelled a lot I think.

I once had about 90 minutes of horrific turbulence near the start of a 12 hour flight. I also had another flight where the pilot got a warning light about the flaps on the wings not working and they weren’t confident they could make a safe landing. There were fire engines along the runway when we landed, and rescue boats positioned in the water beyond the end of the runway. Neither experience was quite as terrifying or as unpleasant as a really bad catamaran ferry experience in a storm. More than half the passengers were vomiting and the staff looked genuinely terrified.

The morning after me and DP first got together I had a 7am flight. So sneaked out of his hotel room, slightly hungover.
Got to airport, flight was delayed (everything was in mandarin- which I don’t speak- so had no clue what was going on). Tiny plane, hit bad turbulence to the point the air hostess where strapped in, yet again all information was in Mandarin so no clue what was going on. My sleep deprived hungover self was not great. We ended up soon as we hit land emergency landing at an American army base (ideally was closer to my house than the airport). Got home then had to arrange for my car that was at the airport to be brought to my flat.

Maybe should have seen that omen for me and DP!

I was once on an A380 (super big plane) coming into land at Heathrow that aborted when we were inside the perimeter fence. That's the only time I've seen cabin crew look scared. What seemed like mere feet from the runway suddenly full power and back into the air. Pilot them came on the radio to say 'sorry about that but there was another plane taxi-ing in front of us'