Have you ever been on an plane ride that got into trouble ?

In 2006, I was on a flight from Atlanta, GA to Dallas, TX and we had just reached maximum altitude. I was sitting next to an off-duty stewardess and an off-duty pilot was sitting across the aisle. We were about 40 minutes into the flight. There was a sound like a big pop. All of a sudden, my ears started to hurt and I felt a lot of pressure in my head. The stewardess looked out of the window and commented (to herself), "We're turning around". It wasn't very noticeable at first, but the plane was actually turning 180 degrees and dropping. The drop became steeper and people began to complain about their ears hurting. The captain came on and said we were returning to the Atlanta airport. He told everyone to buckle their seat belts and put up tray tables if they were out with computers on them or anything. I was watching the off-duty captain (across the aisle) and he had a grim expression on his face. The plane turned completely back the way we had come, and it continued to drop pretty rapidly. There was a smell of burning electrical wiring. Everybody was really quiet and sort of holding our breaths. Everyone,including the stewardesses, was strapped into their seats. The captain kept telling people we were nearly there and for us to "hang on tight". Evidently a runway had been cleared for the plane and there were emergency vehicles off to the side. When we touched down, people cheered and clapped. The off-duty captain across from me had a relieved look, and the stewardess next to me just said, "Wow!" We were hurried off of the plane and into the terminal. No one ever said exactly what was wrong, but it was announced that there had been "mechanical trouble". It was a big plane, fully loaded with people, so if it had crashed, it would have been a real disaster. We waited about six hours for another flight, because the airline had to re-route some planes and have one come to Atlanta to pick us up. What was really funny was that there was a big rock concert in Dallas that night, and some passengers were complaining that they were going to be late or miss it. I was thinking about how stupid that was, when they could have lost their lives. I don't know what happened on the San Francisco flight, but it looks as if there was some human error involved. I feel really bad for the crew and passengers, too.

No thank God.

I did see on the front page of a newspaper today (while at the shops) about a plane crash and there was a photo of a plane that was burnt on the roof. The headline said something along the line most passengers were safe, but it must have been a terrible ordeal for them and the crew/pilots. I could not read any more of the story.

I spent nearly 50 years around and in, the flying business, as well as using it as a hobby for years. How much trouble are you talking about? I walked away from every landing, and never wrecked an airplane. I was in the right seat when we had a couple of engine failures. One a DC-3, we'd just replace the engine on. The replacement engine, of questionable origin, let go on take off. That one scared me. Another, riding a light charter over the Rockies somewhere near the continental divide. We were already near the service ceiling of the aircraft when #2 engine erupted in smoke and stopped suddenly. Wouldn't even feather. Full throttle, to a high altitude airport nearby, where we just made it by a few feet. Got lucky that day! Worked for airlines for 40 years. Spent a LOT of time traveling on company business. Never had a problem on a scheduled US carrier. Charters and foreign airlines are another story.

Twice. The first time the Captain said we lost an engine ..which sounded scary at the time ..during take-off. We went back and changed planes,like 2-3 hours later and all was well.

The second time prior to take-off again..they announced that a door would not close. It was most uncomfortable sitting on the plane listening to drilling and pounding noises while the door was repaired.

Other than severe turbulence, nothing major has occurred, Thank God.

My best friend, Louise, from childhood was on this plane.

She had risen through the ranks of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

She and 18 others had gone to Dallas for a convention.

5 Mary Kay consultants died.

The married couple sitting beside Louise both died, the woman holding Louise's hand.

Reader's Digest interviewed Louise for the story about it and totally fabricated 90% of the story.

http://www.pilotfriend.com/disasters/crash/aircana...

Left NYC for Miami enroute to Ecuador - engine fire had us emergency land in Philly - runway full of ambulances etc.. but oddly, no airline reps on the ground to help us re-route. We had to all find our own way...

Unbelievable turbulence over Alaska returning from Asia had the plane bouncing like a basketball - dropping straight down then bouncing back up - stuff flying all over the cabin.

And a few days ago, I bumped into a guy who went down w/Sully into the Hudson River in NYC.

Thankfully no Marilyn well not too serious that is.

I recall a scary flight in an old military aircraft called a Beverley. These planes were like flying hangers, huge bulky transporters which plummeted like rocks when hitting turbulence.

They were uncomfortable and noisy but were reliable old work horses which ran for years .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Beverley

Yes it's very sad when we see and hear of these awful air accidents with the latest one sounding like pilot error, quite dreadful.

Coming out of the Arctic after a long military deployment, the C-130 Hercules I was on had troubles with the rear ramp. It wouldn't close properly.

We landed in Greenland to try to fix it, which did not happen, so, they decided to fly fairly low - 19,000', and pressurize for 10,000'. That was a LONG (13 hours?), and uncomfortable trip, but, at last I was headed home, so, none of us really complained.

I was originally scheduled for the Hercules that crashed on it's way to Alert, but, my dates were changed just before leaving, and I ended up going 2 weeks later. Quite a few died on that trip, and many were maimed for life.

Remember coming into Mexico City airport on a DC-10 - as we were traveling down the runway to land one of the wings went up and I'm certain the other wing couldn't of been more than inches off the runway when the pilot quickly leveled it out and landed - have noted those Mexican pilots seam to have allot of "cha-cha- cha" about there piloting.

No Thank God...but my Husband did...The day he moved to America. He was on Alitalia Airlines and They were ready for take off when the whole plane started shaking and made a horrible noise. They were forced to slide down the chutes, they later found out it was engine trouble.