We frequently hear horror stories of flights with severe turbulence, but these are very rare events. Turbulence is common, but severe incidents are far and wide between. Modern aircraft are structurally designed to handle extreme turbulence, and aviation has never been safer.
So, what's your worst flight? For me, these are memorable.
Old 747 aircraft and heavy landing in Singapore
KUL -Kuala Lumpur - SIN -Singapore
In 2003, I attended business meetings in Singapore with 'Tourism NSW.' The mission was to visit Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to meet with wholesale travel companies and promote NSW as a destination.
We would travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by luxury coach, with a night's stopover in Malacca. Whilst Malacca was a great place to stop, the trip via coach was extremely boring. There were nothing but pine plantations on the entire 5-hour journey.
After the business meetings concluded in Kuala Lumpur, we were free to return to Singapore for flights home to Sydney. I had the choice of returning on a 5-6 hour coach trip or look to take a quick 2.5-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur - Singapore. Given the scenery was so boring, I would opt for a flight. To this day, I cannot tell you the name of the airline; all I remember is it was a budget airline with no onboard service, no food, no drinks, and no movies. The aircraft was an extremely old Boeing 747. Despite there being no smoking onboard, the aircraft still had the old ashtrays in the armrest and no entertainment or flight display. The first indication that the flight would be rough was when we incurred a small amount of turbulence, and the overhead lockers in the centre aisle would start to sway. As we hit heavier turbulence, most of the lockers would rattle heavily, with many having opened and bags falling out. The sound of the rattle was unnerving and could only be best described as a car driving over a series of speed humps at high speed. The passengers were visibly concerned. That wasn't the worst of it. As we approached landing in Singapore, the aircraft was clearly battling strong cross winds. It would be as though we were just about to touch the runway before then suddenly lifting up again. This would happen a few times before we struck the runway with a heavy thud followed by a few screams from passengers. The aircraft would still sway back and forth down the runway like we were navigating through driving cones on the road. The aircraft would vere across to one side of the runway, touching the grass side before coming under control and slowing.
As the aircraft slowed, the passengers did not applaud as some might expect. There would be only silence. You could hear the pin drop. Many of the ladies were visibly upset and relieved. The Captain would make an announcement and apologise, blaming the weather conditions. As we exited the plane, the Captain and Co-Pilot would be at the door to again personally apologise to passengers.
To this day, I don't know what was more unnerving: the rust and stains visible on the wings, the sound of the aircraft rattling, or the fact that the Captain looked like he was 14 years old.
Lightning strike onboard Jet Star into Newcastle
MEL -Melbourne - NTL Newcastle
We were heading home from a family wedding in Melbourne via JetStar. The flight was relatively routine, although we did hit some minor turbulence as we approached Newcastle Airport. It was around 8 p.m. at night, and pitch black outside as we descended through clouds. The turbulence started to increase, causing some murmurs from passengers and some sweaty palms, no doubt. The lightning strike would happen very quickly. A flash, a bang and then all lights were out. The aircraft itself didn't move or fall a great deal, but the darkness was enough to upset many, understandably. Emergency floor lighting and exit lights would come on, but that's about it.
We landed without any issue, and despite the events, passengers were relatively calm as we embarked down the stairs onto the runway. Walking down the stairs, I saw the ground crew attending to the aircraft and inspecting underneath. As a small regional airport, you would embark and follow the yellow lines across the bitumen into the arrivals lounge. You could clearly see the passengers in departures waiting to board the aircraft for the quick turnaround back to Melbourne for the last flight of the night. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, this aircraft was going nowhere fast. The ground crew told me that the standard procedure after a direct lightning strike is that the aircraft is grounded until a full electrical inspection can be done. Not something that'll be done at 8 pm on a Friday night. All those passengers heading to Melbourne for the weekend would be in for a very disappointing shock.
Other than the loss of lighting inside the cabin, the aircraft itself handled the lightning strike extremely well, as it was designed to do. If not for the flash and sound of the strike, one would not have known any difference.
The short Runway of Montego Bay, Jamaica
YYZ -Toronto to MBJ -Montego Bay
I was flying Air Canada from Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada, to Montego Bay, Jamaica. The flight was completely routine and without problems, despite my overthinking the whole thing and thinking we'd end up in the Bermuda Triangle. Oh, how the mind thinks sometimes.
On approach to Montego Bay, the view of the blue waters of the Caribean was simply stunning. The Captain would get on and make an announcement to prepare for our landing. He would announce, 'that the Montego Bay Airport runway was extremely short for this sized aircraft and that he'd be applying the brakes heavily on the touchdown so as not to be alarmed by the abrupt halt to our landing. He was right; as we landed, we were thrust forward in our seats after touching the runway. It must have been timed precisely because I distinctly remember looking out of the window as we turned to taxi back to the terminal, seeing the wing extend out over the crystal blue water. I remember looking down through the window to think where the end of the runway was; I could only see water, thinking, crikey, that close. Not much room for error one would say.
This would again be reinforced when it was time to depart Montego Bay and return to Toronto. Before takeoff, the Captain would announce that due to the short runway, he would effectively need to back up the aircraft to the end of the runway and apply full thrust while holding the brakes on. He would go on to say that don't be alarmed by the plane's vibration and the thrust that would come from releasing the brakes. It was perfectly safe, and not to panic. The takeoff was well explained and appreciated, but he forgot to mention the slight drop as we left the end of the runway. That uneasy feeling in the stomach as you drop quickly before starting to climb again.
I'm sure that with the pilot training, everything was perfectly safe, but I often wonder how many mishaps there have been over the years. The runway has, in recent years, been upgraded for larger aircraft.
About the Author
The author of this blog, unless otherwise noted, has no affiliation with any property or business linked in this article. Unless otherwise noted, there is no free accommodation or payment from any businesses. The information contained in this blog is strictly the views of the author and not professional advice. The author of this BookDirect blog is a travel and tourism professional with over 30 years of experience in international hotel management, global travel, short-term rental management and a tourism awards judge specialising in accommodation and attractions.
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