Originally Posted by
Rectiffied
Hi, I came across this sight searching for REAL information. Finally someone is telling the truth!! I was on this flight. It was by far the scariest event in my life. The pilot spoke for 5 minutes before takeoff warning us of severe turbulence. I was in the back of the plane. As we started taking of there was a huge jerk to the left (I described it as trying to avoid a pot hole..but obviously a lot stronger) The plane then kicked into a higher speed, we hit another strong burst of turbulence as we were still going up, Then suddenly it felt as something just slammed us back down on the ground. We hit the ground and went back up and again it sounded like the plane hit it into a faster speed like he was trying to continue taking off and fight through whatever it was (my inital thought was wind) We then slammed the ground a second time. We were then on the ground and he was hitting the breaks as we were being rocked back and forth. (I was pretty much bracing for impact) After the plane came to stop, You could smell smoke from the tires but we could see and smell from the back window smoke. The pilot came on and said EVACUATE NOW. Chaos broke out, people were screaming, our attendant stood still in a panic and would not open the back door until we literally screamed and cursed at her to do so. I had to yell at people to leave their F**king bags, Stop grabbing your bags!, The attendant was still just standing in place. We had to wait for people to come hold our slide bc the wind was blowing it into the air. I was pushed from behind out. Thank god I landed on my feet, Other people were landing on each other and hitting the ground hard. We were in a field a lot longer than they are saying. Thank you for you account of the time the busses were dispatched. They then brought us into a room, gave some of us free alcohol but never assessed our conditions. I never heard a sorry or an explanation. They kept us for 3 hours, finally brought our bags and tried to get us out of there as fast as possible. I commend the pilot, but the attendants did not keep us calm or do their job, The airport kept us in freezing temperatures (many of us dressed for warm weather) for over an hour, and US AIR kept us in what I can only describe as a brainwashing room for 3 hours before releasing us with nothing but a See YA.
Thanks for the report, and welcome to FT; sorry about your experience, I'm surprised that they didn't treat you Bette, wonder if there will be compensation after the dust settles down?.... FAA1996