The OP's story reminds me of the most horrendous flight from LHR-JFK.

Our 777 hit turbulence so severe that both engines were shaken off the wings. Then the wings themselves snapped clean off.

As the plane began to dive toward the ocean, the aluminum skin ripped away from the fuselage, causing rapid decompression and exposing the passengers to a torrential 500 mile-an-hour wind.

Luckily, we had an excellent pilot who managed to control the aircraft by only the tail flaps and rudder.

After gliding across the Atlantic at 5,000 feet and 200 miles an hour, we landed safely at JFK with with the entire fuselage ripped away.

What a flight that was!

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.51 Beta (Microsoft Windows; PPC; Opera Mobi/1718; U; en))

macabus--which movie was that in?

Nah. I didn't see a single "plummet" or "plunge" in the whole thing. The cabin should not have been silent, you should have had Moms "screaming" and children "crying".

B- I'm afraid.

Over many traveling years just a handful of out of the ordinary incidents come to mind - with only the first listed below even coming close to "seconds from disaster".

1) Flying SCL to EZE on Brazil's flag carrier VARIG we encountered windshear just after crossing the airport perimeter at Buenos Aires. The flight crew aborted the landing and we ended up diverting - first option was Montevideo but that was discarded due to weather and we ended up in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Where I had my first, and hopefully only, experience as an illegal alien (no Brasilian visa) in Brazil (you can find this story by searching old Trip Reports). It's pretty scary sitting at the window, moments from landing, when you hit windshear and the ground is coming up a whole lot faster than usual all at once :D

2) ORD to SMF on UA - diverted to SLC en route due to a problem with the oxygen supply to the flight deck. Made for some interesting channel 9 listening as our crew checked in with ATC to find out just how low we could safely fly in the area without running into any mountains. At SLC mechanics fixed the problem and we were underway again inside of 90 minutes.

3) SFO to SMF on United Express - returned to SFO after departure due to inability to retract one of the landing gear. Of course this is much more preferred than not being able to deploy the landing gear!

And a friend of mine was once flying SMF-DEN on UA that diverted to RNO not too long after departure. Seems that the aircraft couldn't maintain cabin pressure and the O2 masks eventually deployed. He told me it wasn't too big a deal, everybody put on their masks - he confirmed that yes, they do work and no, the bag does not inflate. They only had to wear them a very short time as they were nowhere near their final assigned altitude and it was a quick trip down to a breathable altitude then expedited approach into RNO.

Actually, aircraft wings are not rigid at all, they’re designed to flex. As for the age of an aircraft, this has nothing to do with how safe it is.



Same here, other than spilling my drink or needing to go to the lav when the seatbelt sign is on.

Here is the altitude track log for your flight:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/A.../KSFO/tracklog

Just as you said, about an hour into the flight, your flight crew was challenged to find a smooth ride.

However, you were never seconds from death. You never gained or loss more than 100 feet of elevation. Also, those wings on the MD88 may be 20 years old but they can flex to handle way more than turbulence. That plane is a proverbial brick outhouse.

Turbulence puts me to sleep. :p

Dude, cut back on the Ambien! :D

Would it have been as fast to just fly on to SMF and repair the landing gear there?

For us passengers yes, but keep in mind that UX maintenance facilities are available at SFO. Plus the emergency was declared about the time we were over the OAK airport after departure so we weren't too far into the flight.

I had a very unusual experience on a flight to CLT last year.

At some point during our mildly bumpy landing approach a decision was made not to land but to go around and try again. I have no idea why, and it doesn't matter. It seemed like a normal situation and really didn't bother me in the slightest. I just kept on reading my book. There was a little more turbulence as we circled back.

For some reason my body reacted with some sort of very strong stress response. I broke into a sweat and felt pretty ill. I thought I was going to need help getting off the plane, but I was near the front and managed to stagger into the terminal and, close to fainting, found a washroom. I sat in a stall for a few minutes until my body composed itself and eventually went on my way.

i'm sure some of you flyers may remember the airline. i do not. about 15 years ago i was in colorado skiing. some friends were flying in from all over the country. my freind len called late one night to tell me he would not make it. his plane hit another plane on the runway in st. louis. he was not hurt but said it was a pretty hectic scene. i think some people on the other plane were killed. it was a small plane that was on the runway and the wing of his plane smashed into it. i do not remember the name of the airline. anyone remeber that?

Is this it?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A962958260

The power of Google:

A Trans World Airlines jetliner struck a private plane with its wing during takeoff at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, killing two people aboard the small craft and injuring several passengers on the large jet.

The TWA MD-80, carrying 142 passengers plus its crew, was accelerating when the pilot apparently saw the Cessna 421 in his path and swerved to avoid the smaller plane, an Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, Sandra Campbell, said from the agency's Kansas City, Mo., regional office.

The jetliner's right wing clipped the Cessna to take off at 10:05 P.M., sheering off the top of the smaller plane, she said.

Injuries to passengers aboard the TWA plane, Flight 427 to Denver, were minor, Ms. Campbell said. She did not know the number of passengers hurt.

The MD-80 had been cleared for takeoff, while the Cessna was being held for takeoff for Iron Mountain, Mich., on a parallel runway, Ms. Cambpell said. The smaller plane was sitting perpendicular to its runway and "should not have been there," she said.

After the collision, the TWA pilot stopped the plane near the end of the runway. A large amount of fuel was spilled, and the runways were closed for the night.

Might it be this incident?

thanx guys. i googled plane crash st louis and all i ever got was some skydivers that got killed.