The recent plane crash of a USAirways jet stirred up memories for me. A few years ago I was flying from the mainland of Honduras to Guanaja in the Bay Islands, which is located about 30 miles off the northern coast. The twin engine puddle-jumper took off to the east and banked left out over the blue Caribbean, climbing quickly.
From my window seat I was enjoying the view of the distant islands when suddenly, the pilot put the plane into a nose dive and banked so steeply that I was looking straight down at the water. Rather than leveling out and flying north we continued banking and descending rapidly. I realized that something was very wrong but no one else in the small plane seemed alarmed – not even when it became apparent that we were turning completely around. In a matter of seconds we were back over land and the pilot brought the plane out of its bank but continued to dive so steeply that I was sure he would be unable to pull the nose up in time to land safely.
The whole incident could not have lasted more than two minutes but it seemed much longer, as if time was expanding. There was a certain unreality about what was happening – almost a dreamlike quality. My life did not flash in front of me. No one screamed or got upset. I remember thinking that I was going to die. I clearly remember being fascinated – and just a bit terrified – over the idea of my impending death. My stomach clenched and jumped into my throat. I stopped breathing. Although the engines must have been roaring and the cabin must have been rattling, my memory is of silence, as if we were in a vacuum where no sound could penetrate. The only one of my senses that was registering anything was my vision, and it was filled with the image of the ground rushing up to meet the plane. I braced for impact, but at the last moment the pilot brought us out of our nose dive and a split second later the wheels screeched on the runway.
As we rolled to a stop in front of the tiny terminal building the pilot announced what had happened. I speak Spanish fairly well, but between the engine noise and the poor quality of the plane’s PA system his words were unintelligible.
“What did he say?” I asked the young man sitting next to me.
“He said that a Seagull hit the plane and he had to make an emergency landing because of damage to the wing.”
Since we were instructed to stay in our seats while they brought a replacement plane around, we had time to chat. I learned that my seatmate was a Honduran national who worked for Dole – he also turned out to be an ex-military intelligence officer. Finally, the rear door was opened and we began to disembark. Airport guards stood at the foot of the metal stairway directing passengers across the tarmac to another waiting plane but my seatmate had other ideas.
“Come, let’s go see the wing,” he insisted as he grabbed my arm. He led me past all the guards, who ignored us in the delightful “no problema” mentality so prevalent in Latin American countries. We circled to the front of the plane and ducked under the nose to get a good look at the right wing. Sure enough, there was a huge dent in the leading edge of the wing.
“Oh my God! Look at the size of that dent. I can’t believe something as small as a Seagull could cause that much damage. And I can’t believe we didn’t hear it hit.” I exclaimed.
“I heard it – it was a big thump.” he said.
We looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief. And then the two of us calmly walked down the tarmac, climbed aboard another twin engine puddle jumper, and strapped ourselves in for the second time that afternoon.
What a frightening experience … that pilot’s skill saved your life that day, but I’d be would thinking much the same as you too!
The really scary thing, Kyle, is that over the years I’ve had three incidents in small planes, all of which could have ended very badly.
Wow! That is a crazy story.. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like in real life, my heart was racing just reading that story. Would you be interested in contributing one of your stories to my site? Hope all is well!
Grant
Yes, I had a similar experience coming out of Tokyo once. We lost 2 out of 4 engines and we all almost took a swim in Tokyo bay. My life did flash before my eyes and I kept thinking “I’m going to die with a bunch of strangers!” I was 19 years old.
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Reading your post got me thinking about the shuttle disaster that was caused by a small piece of foam. Now a jetliner is brought down by a flock of birds. I live in New Jersey so I was relatively close to where this happened. I watched in fascination as the days events unfolded and it became clear that here was in fact a miracle on the Hudson. A miracle, and the skills of a man called “Scully”, if not for both, many souls could have been lost.
Your post and the events of this past week just proves that you have to live at peace with your loved ones, yourself and with God. Because you just never know what may happen and when it may happen.
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Very interesting. When everything is fine in the end, we remember such incidents with a very different feeling.
I have also went through one such experience and coincidentally a small plane was involved 🙂 Its only five days after my wedding and my wife was sitting near window. It was around 11 pm night when suddenly we felt a dive down. For first few seconds I thought its normal but then it looked like something wrong, there was no stability for good time and our hostess who was holding a trolley parted with it and it rolled forward. One person fell from his seat. You know what I did? 🙂 I held my newly wed wife’s hand (thinking it may be the last time of life!!!). There was complete darkness outside and unlike your experience, we could not see anything side or down.
Later our captain announced it was nothing but a hit of bad weather (no bird involved). This is one incident that I will remember throughout my life.
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I too was struck by the “fascinated” line in your post – that was very well put – kind of like being unable to look away from a gruesome accident. How you got yourself on that replacement plane, after describing what you felt, I have no idea!
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Whoa! As I step on to any plane, I also wonder if this will be THE time. I do my best not to let it get to me, but any sort of turbulence and I’m white as a ghost, stomach flopping and I can’t breath while clenching my seat nervously. I hate flying, but don’t let my fear stop me.
Jeez…what an experience that must have been. I found this line interesting and now that you say it, something that would be felt as part of the gamut of emotion happening: “I clearly remember being fascinated – and just a bit terrified – over the idea of my impending death.” I never step on a plane without wondering if this will be THE time, but then I will myself to not let anxiety rule…usually by thinking about the fact that dying now would save me from having to live with some horrible old age ailment 🙂