TRAVEL|TAKING OFF

Scares in the Air

Some frightening moments while flying

Barb Dalton 🇺🇦 writes about some of her scares in the air.

I’m sure we’ve all had them — some more memorable and frightening than others. I have written how I conquered my crippling fear of flying but that’s not to say I’ve never been scared shitless at times when in the air.

The most petrified I’ve ever been was unbelievably on a flight home from Melbourne. I flew this route twice every year usually late on a Friday afternoon after attending a conference. These late afternoon flights are designed for business people commuting to and from Melbourne and as such provide free alcohol not available on other domestic flights. They fly over the land and are always bumpy and I was used to that.

Almost home

But this particular afternoon, the captain announced there was a storm on the ground in Brisbane and we’d have to go into a holding pattern. I stayed calm at this announcement. Holding patterns are normal. What happened next was not normal.

Our plane got caught in the storm. It was tossed about like a cork on an angry ocean. The pilot seemed to have no control. People were screaming and praying silently. What did I do? I cried. Bawled like a baby.

The unfairness of it all. I’ve flown all around the world in some pretty dodgy planes and I was going to die so close to home on a Qantas plane with the highest safety record in the world. It would surely make worldwide news.

The storm passed and we eventually landed safely. On my way home from the airport, I saw the devastation the storm had wreaked — trees uprooted, houses unroofed, debris strewn everywhere. No wonder we weren’t able to land!

The Oldest Plane

We flew to Guam with friends for a conference in 1992 on an old DC-10. When I say old, I mean ancient. It only had 3 engines, one on the tail. I’d never flown in one of these. This would test my aerophobia — was it really cured? My nerves were calmed by soaking in a jacuzzi with copious amounts of champagne before we driving to the airport.

We shakily took off. The overhead lockers wouldn’t even stay closed on takeoff, and every time we hit turbulence, they would pop open and luggage fall on the heads of unsuspecting passengers.

The whole plane shook and rattled. On the midnight flight home, I sat facing the air hostess. If that was her calm face, I’d hate to see her frightened one. I didn’t loosen my seat-belt for the whole 6 hour flight. I’d never been so happy to be on terra firma.

Landings are the scariest

Another scary landing moment occurred coming into JFK in the early hours of the morning. I was sitting next to a girl who commuted LA to NY every month and she was terrified. She said, “ it’s never like this.” The look on her face was too much for me. It was raining but that wasn’t the problem. As we touched down, the wind caught the plane and spun us sideways. Fortunately, the pilot was able to right the plane and as soon as we pulled into the gate, the whole plane cheered and clapped his skill.

Weird sounds on the plane

When I was flying from Munich to Lisbon, I was the only one who was afraid. It was a 737 (a plane I’ve flown in more often than any other), making a terrible noise. I didn’t think it wasn’t coming from the engine. Maybe the pilots don’t know about it?

I looked around at my fellow passengers. They all looked calm. Can they not hear that noise? I asked my neighbour across the aisle. He either ignored me or didn’t speak English. I gripped the arms of my seat. The noise continued the entire flight. We didn’t crash. It was a smooth flight and perfect landing but that noise?? I could not relax for one second.

When returning to Munich, I must have flown in the same plane because it also made that godawful noise the entire flight, but I slept through it as did everyone else.

My daughter flew down and back from Melbourne last week and had the same experience. She was at the front of the plane and was terrified the whole flight. No one else could hear the sound or was worried by it. She said it sounded like a leaf blower — nothing to do with the actual engines. On her flight home, the plane made the same sound the whole way. She relaxed and thought, “Must be the same plane.”

Have you had any terrifying moments up in the air? I hope no one can top Pene Hodge’s story!

Here are some stories about the special treatment some of us have had while flying.