So I was flying back to FL from RDU yesterday. I had to make a connecting flight at Charlotte. Well, because of the snow, we had to do wait 2 hours on the plane for them to "de-ice" the plane. When we almost landed in Pensacola, my plane got struck by lightning, and also due to stormy weather, the pilot had to take the plane to Montgomery, AL. There, we sat for like 2 more hours on the plane before they let us out, and then another 2 hours in the terminal before we were provided ground transportation to Pensacola. My plane supposed to land in Pensacola at 7pm, I didn't get home until 5am this morning.

1/30/2010 12:36:49 PM

Sucks for you.

1/30/2010 12:38:13 PM

I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and there were dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare but I thought naw forget it, yo holmes to belair. I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and said to the cabbie yo holmes smell ya later. Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there, to sit on my throne as the prince of belair.

1/30/2010 12:38:19 PM

Was it on a treadmill?

1/30/2010 12:38:53 PM

I wish it was a "yo holmes to bel air" story.

1/30/2010 12:39:25 PM

And then there was a bear on a unicycle with a machine gun


It was epic

1/30/2010 12:40:13 PM

i thought that said fight

i was all set for some action movie shit

how dare you deceive me sir

1/30/2010 12:40:18 PM

1/30/2010 12:40:34 PM

that def sucks though

my flight was delayed coming back from asia which is annoying because after flying 16 hours all you want to do is get the eff home not sit at another airport for a million hours.

1/30/2010 12:40:35 PM

trust me, it was one of the scarier moments of my life. When a plane got struck by lightning, and lost power for 5 minutes.

^was it United airlines? I'm flying them to Vietnam in march.

[Edited on January 30, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason : .]

1/30/2010 12:41:23 PM

At least you had a flight. When I was coming home from a study abroad in Scotland I learned upon arrival at Edinburgh Airport that cheaptickets.com had sold me a seat on a flight that didn't start running until three weeks after my departure date.

Don't use cheaptickets.com.

What did the lightning feel/sound like when it hit?

[Edited on January 30, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason : never heard of that happening to a real person]

1/30/2010 12:42:15 PM

^Looking back, I wish they just cancel the flight in charlotte. At least I know some friends there.

1/30/2010 12:43:22 PM

Quote :

"When a plane got struck by lightning, and lost power for 5 minutes."

holy shit

1/30/2010 12:44:12 PM

Quote :

"^was it United airlines? I'm flying them to Vietnam in march. "

yes. i freaking HATE united after that. i've never flown them before and they are NOT my fav. i will be flying them again with my frequent flyer miles that i got from the trip but after that i dunno. i was not a fan!

1/30/2010 12:44:39 PM

How did it stay in the air?!

1/30/2010 12:44:42 PM

but after that scare i'd be kinda happy go travel via ground trans!!

1/30/2010 12:46:14 PM

Quote :

"yes. i freaking HATE united after that. i've never flown them before and they are NOT my fav. i will be flying them again with my frequent flyer miles that i got from the trip but after that i dunno. i was not a fan!"

I've flown United alot to Vietnam. I got a free ticket to Vietnam once using my frequent flyer miles. They're not my favorite, but they're cheap.

1/30/2010 12:53:41 PM

yes they are cheap and you get a LOT a frequent flyer miles for that trip!

but they are def not my favorite.

1/30/2010 12:54:21 PM

Wow, so did the plane dip or anything during loss of power? That would scare the shit out of me. What was it like when it got struck, could you hear? See, maybe? Did people scream? Did you settle your regrets in case of ultimate death??

1/30/2010 12:54:30 PM

something bad happens every time i fly american


GO SOUTHWEST

1/30/2010 12:55:24 PM

did the oxygen masks come down?

1/30/2010 12:55:55 PM

nah, the oxygen mask didn't come down, but the plane did free fall for at least 30 seconds.

1/30/2010 1:00:37 PM

no way. 30 seconds?!? that is a LONG time

that is intense

did you think you were going to die. did you get that like gross feeling in your stomach? were people screaming?

1/30/2010 1:01:42 PM

there were a few women screaming. To be honest, the thought of dying did cross my mind. The free fall was like riding a rollercoaster, but a whole lot scarier.

Quote :

"yes they are cheap and you get a LOT a frequent flyer miles for that trip!"

yep, what I did was bought 2 trips to Vietnam and applied for their credit card to get the free ticket. Saved me 1500 bucks.

1/30/2010 1:05:05 PM

yea i know i've done that free fall ride thing and you only free fall for like 2 seconds. that is so insane.

1/30/2010 1:06:01 PM

Quote :

"It is estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year. In fact, aircraft often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and extends away in opposite directions. ... The last confirmed commercial plane crash in the U.S. directly attributed to lightning occurred in 1967, when lightning caused a catastrophic fuel tank explosion. Since then, much has been learned about how lightning can affect airplanes. As a result, protection techniques have improved. Today, airplanes receive a rigorous set of lightning certification tests to verify the safety of their designs. ... Pilots occasionally report temporary flickering of lights or short-lived interference with instruments. "

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-happens-when-lightni

1/30/2010 1:11:48 PM

Quote :

"nah, the oxygen mask didn't come down, but the plane did free fall for at least 30 seconds. "

Sweet jesus.

1/30/2010 1:12:01 PM

i would have peed my pants and/or vomited

1/30/2010 1:12:41 PM

^Ditto.

1/30/2010 1:15:26 PM

yea, alot of people on the plane did vomit. I almost did too. It's a good thing I didn't eat much for lunch and had nothing for dinner.

1/30/2010 1:20:54 PM

Ew, I hope they vomited into those bags. I hate rollercoasters so that freefall feeling would not have settled well with me. Good to know the last crash was in 1967.

1/30/2010 1:28:32 PM

it made the news
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584387,00.html?test=latestnews

1/30/2010 11:02:53 PM

louis ck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk


yeah, you're done

Quote :

"but then what happened? did you experience the miracle of flight!?!""

1/30/2010 11:06:58 PM

1/30/2010 11:16:46 PM

Quote :

"And then there was a bear on a unicycle with a machine gun It was epic"

you know...someone used to tell me that I should use those things in a story when it's not that great and it will make it awesome...

1/30/2010 11:36:37 PM

Quote :

""de-ice""

Quote :

"the plane did free fall for at least 30 seconds."

LOL. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS THREAD?", asks the [furloughed] airline pilot.

1/30/2010 11:53:02 PM

Quote :

"something bad happens every time i fly american"

that's like me and Us scAir. for some reason everytime i fly with them (i normally do a lot because they have cheaper commuter flights to DC where one of my clients are) they ALWAYS put me in the back of the plane. when i go to do the "check in" online before i fly, i can't even change my seat. my coworker who flies up there a lot with me always jokes about it.....until one flight they put her in the back with me. she (jokingly) was like, "great now they know i'm associated with you!"

i fly a lot and man do i have some stories.
-having a convicted felon on my flight with an armed police office with some giant ass gun from Dallas to Raleigh
-the time we were about to land in Dallas and air traffic control didn't realize there was another plane on the runway still (oh we definitely were perpendicular to the ground instantly....scary stuff)
-the time the pilot landed us in the middle of a tornado in Louiseville and the plane skid on the runway toward the gate
-the time in Charlotte when we landed in a thunderstorm and there were no available gates so they dumped us on the runway to run into the airport (mind you it was downpouring) and i had 10 minutes to run across the airport to my connection.
-the time i went to NJ and apparently there was someone the cops were looking for trying to get on our flight. that wasn't bad.....it was just annoying because we all had to go through extra security and have cops double check our identification and then the flight attendants had to sit there and count everyone and every empty seat for like 20 minutes.

i used to love to fly.....yeah not so much anymore.

glad you're ok though.

1/31/2010 12:16:30 AM

just for clarification, "giant-ass gun" or "giant ass-gun"?

1/31/2010 12:17:42 AM

clarification: giant-ass gun.

[Edited on January 31, 2010 at 12:18 AM. Reason : n00b]

1/31/2010 12:18:32 AM

yeah but ass-guns are so much more fun!

1/31/2010 12:18:56 AM

it's not as good a story now.

1/31/2010 12:19:16 AM

Quote :

"moron All American 17557 Posts user info edit post Quote : "It is estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year. In fact, aircraft often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and extends away in opposite directions. ... The last confirmed commercial plane crash in the U.S. directly attributed to lightning occurred in 1967, when lightning caused a catastrophic fuel tank explosion. Since then, much has been learned about how lightning can affect airplanes. As a result, protection techniques have improved. Today, airplanes receive a rigorous set of lightning certification tests to verify the safety of their designs. ... Pilots occasionally report temporary flickering of lights or short-lived interference with instruments. " http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-happens-when-lightni"

Wait, wait.....the airplane can survive lightning strikes, but they're worried about me leaving my cell phone on?

1/31/2010 12:25:05 AM

I haven't flown since I was 5.

I am literally scared of flying.

I went to RDU last semester (first time I've been to an airport since '97), and I started to feel really, really fucking nervous (I was picking someone up). As soon as we found the person, I was like, "Let get the fuck out of here".

[Edited on January 31, 2010 at 12:31 AM. Reason : ...]

1/31/2010 12:31:34 AM

I guess I can understand the fear of flying...but with the fact that it is really safe it's just all about trusting that you're going to be safe...

But I guess it's like when I ride in a car with someone...they could drive just like me or better and I'd still be terrified...but I think it's just cause I'm not in control and I have no control over my fate.

1/31/2010 12:33:40 AM

^ THIS! Finally, someone who fucking gets it.

1/31/2010 12:34:26 AM

Yeah, me too. Flying scares me silly. Who knows what those crazy pilots are doing up there.

1/31/2010 12:42:01 AM

Blow and whores, my good man. Blow and whores.

1/31/2010 3:27:49 AM

Quote :

"Who knows what those crazy pilots are doing up there."

from what i understand, not a whole lot. planes pretty much fly themselves these days to my knowledge. i think the pilots just get it up in the air and put it back down on the ground. also came to post this

Quote :

""

haha i've never been able to tell if that's matthew fox or not. probably not.

1/31/2010 4:24:07 AM

what kind of airplane were you in when you lost power for 30+ seconds? Modern planes should have nigh a power flicker when hit by lightning. It's happened to me twice - and the last time it was like a similar to a brown out at your house. Everything goes out for a second then everything power cycles back on. The weird part is all the florescent lights flickering on randomly. Engines never went out, it was more of a power disruption than an outage.

Pilot comes on "wow, looks like we just got struck by lightning, sorry about that folks. Nothing to worry about."

1/31/2010 11:35:20 AM

I usually have delays every time I fly, it's annoying but I still love to fly.

One time we got on the plane and we had to sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes because they found a crack in the plane and had to measure it before clearing it for take off. Eventually we flew but I don't know if that made me feel better or not...

The bf has never flown in his life and I have this fear that when he does for the first time something way bad will happen. Fuckin' Alanis! Still, we're going to risk it because that boy is getting out of the country with me.

1/31/2010 12:48:41 PM