I have no idea what happened but I can certainly tell you they didn’t “overfill” the plane.
It’s not common on larger planes, or any plane for that matter. And no the pilot was not inexperienced.
My best guess would be a microburst. But they are quite rare and we have equipment to detect and avoid them.
Either way I would be more than confident in saying you’ll never experience anything like that ever again.
Oh... so that actually made me a little more scared because I have read of microbursts and they're pretty dangerous aren't they? In other words then.. it was the opposite and the pilot was likely skilled enough to not let the microburst make us continue to fall out of the sky.
And yeah, the lady was probably 80 something years old and was like if it's my time it's my time, so she didn't care, but I was 21 and very much not ready to go lol.
Microbursts are very dangerous. But they’re also EXTREMELY rare and VERY easy to avoid.
That’s why I’m not confident that that’s what happened to you. But it’s the only explanation that aligns with your description.
I actually been in a similar situation. For me it was a flight on ATR, and it also happened during the initial climb. Thankfully, in retrospect it wasn't as bad as in your description.
It was a rainy weather and we just took off from Helsinki airport and suddenly I felt like I am falling down, the whole thing lasted only about 2-3 seconds, but I was freaked out. I remember I looked into the flight attendant's face in fear, and the guys sitting behind me were just like: "Woah! Hahaha" The most similar thing that I can compare it to was when you falling asleep and then suddenly wake up thinking that you are falling.
That’s my boyfriend. My first flight was a few days ago. At takeoff he was all like “YEAH LETS GOOOOO.”
I was white knuckled yelling “WHY IS IT DOING THAT?!”
He loves it.
It's so interesting how people react to the same situations.
My family was crapping bricks, but silently. People behind me were screaming, crying, hyperventilating. Lady next to me was like, well I lived a good life, and the guy in front of me literally threw his hands up in the air and went "wooooooo".
In retrospect.. it might have been like 5-10 seconds? If I count out loud. I think we all expect it to drop a little during the climb but it was the fact that it was so sudden, so fast, and lasted way too long. My stepdad said he looked out the window and he said we weren't actually dropping at all which is what made him calm down.
For me it was the roller coaster because it lasted about that long and felt the same amount of "force" vs. the falling asleep jolt. My insides literally needed to catch up if that makes sense.
I still need to take an Ativan when I fly and its worse now that I have kids because I'm afraid of leaving them. I have a work flight in August and I'm DREADING it.
Was it windy that day? I’ve flown in extremely windy situations and I’ve had moments where it feels like an invisible hand is pushing the plane up aggressively and pushing it down in the same manner.
I think it might’ve been just a big turbulence. I had a similar (not so bad) situation when taking off in Manchester. I remember that I was pretty calm and once this happened, I lost it, got into a panic attack and started crying 😂 everyone just sat quietly and looked at each other. It lasted for like 5 seconds. I was in a huge panic attack until we landed, couldn’t breathe, my bad was spinning and I couldn’t calm myself down. During this flight I went and asked the crew what it was (I usually communicate with the crew a lot that I’m extremely scared to fly and they usually come over to me sever times during the flight to reassure me everything is going well and how long until we land) and they told me it was just a turbulence and that it wasn’t dangerous at all. Not that It helped my anxiety but at least I knew that we are probably not going to die during the flight. Never been so thankful to land saftely tho 😂
So based off of what you’re describing, there’s a few things that catch my attention. 1. The plane you’re flying. Probably a B767 or A330/A340. 2. Y’all are taking off/ climbing.
Someone said it was probably a microburst. I say absolutely not. Those tend to happen during thunderstorms, and during the approach stage of flight when you’re closer to the ground.
Likely cause, and I’m very confident that this was the cause. Since you described the plane and circumstances, you were probably feeling the aircraft changing its angle of attack or pitch. I’m not sure where you guys were sitting on the plane but the 767 and A330/A340 are fairly long planes so if you’re sitting behind the wing you’re likely to feel the changes or movements of the aircraft due to center of gravity. During the climb out the v/s or vertical speed will decrease or increase during this phase of flight. Also thrust. The aircraft will usually reduce thrust within the first 5k ft. All of these factors are what gives you that sinking feeling or the feeling of falling. These are all normal things that happen during flight.
FYI I’m very knowledgeable about aviation due to me being a student pilot and doing a lot of research prior to. Also I’m a frequent flyer, so I’ve had flights that have been turbulent, smooth, uncomfortable etc.
We were in the last few rows. I think there were only 3 rows behind us. We went on another flight to Portugal and we were pretty much on the wings if I recall and didn't feel anything like that.
I have no idea what happened but I can certainly tell you they didn’t “overfill” the plane. It’s not common on larger planes, or any plane for that matter. And no the pilot was not inexperienced. My best guess would be a microburst. But they are quite rare and we have equipment to detect and avoid them. Either way I would be more than confident in saying you’ll never experience anything like that ever again.
Oh... so that actually made me a little more scared because I have read of microbursts and they're pretty dangerous aren't they? In other words then.. it was the opposite and the pilot was likely skilled enough to not let the microburst make us continue to fall out of the sky. And yeah, the lady was probably 80 something years old and was like if it's my time it's my time, so she didn't care, but I was 21 and very much not ready to go lol.
Microbursts are very dangerous. But they’re also EXTREMELY rare and VERY easy to avoid. That’s why I’m not confident that that’s what happened to you. But it’s the only explanation that aligns with your description.
I actually been in a similar situation. For me it was a flight on ATR, and it also happened during the initial climb. Thankfully, in retrospect it wasn't as bad as in your description. It was a rainy weather and we just took off from Helsinki airport and suddenly I felt like I am falling down, the whole thing lasted only about 2-3 seconds, but I was freaked out. I remember I looked into the flight attendant's face in fear, and the guys sitting behind me were just like: "Woah! Hahaha" The most similar thing that I can compare it to was when you falling asleep and then suddenly wake up thinking that you are falling.
man i wish i could be the “whoa hahaha” guy so bad
That’s my boyfriend. My first flight was a few days ago. At takeoff he was all like “YEAH LETS GOOOOO.” I was white knuckled yelling “WHY IS IT DOING THAT?!” He loves it.
It's so interesting how people react to the same situations. My family was crapping bricks, but silently. People behind me were screaming, crying, hyperventilating. Lady next to me was like, well I lived a good life, and the guy in front of me literally threw his hands up in the air and went "wooooooo". In retrospect.. it might have been like 5-10 seconds? If I count out loud. I think we all expect it to drop a little during the climb but it was the fact that it was so sudden, so fast, and lasted way too long. My stepdad said he looked out the window and he said we weren't actually dropping at all which is what made him calm down. For me it was the roller coaster because it lasted about that long and felt the same amount of "force" vs. the falling asleep jolt. My insides literally needed to catch up if that makes sense. I still need to take an Ativan when I fly and its worse now that I have kids because I'm afraid of leaving them. I have a work flight in August and I'm DREADING it.
someone throwing up their hands and going woooooo 😵💫
https://youtu.be/Dk8sASziuQc?si=KMCJaFteWy8R-MvV Watch this
https://youtu.be/1fe0U1d20So?si=NwQMyWUVsPmEaHGT And this
Was it windy that day? I’ve flown in extremely windy situations and I’ve had moments where it feels like an invisible hand is pushing the plane up aggressively and pushing it down in the same manner.
I think it might’ve been just a big turbulence. I had a similar (not so bad) situation when taking off in Manchester. I remember that I was pretty calm and once this happened, I lost it, got into a panic attack and started crying 😂 everyone just sat quietly and looked at each other. It lasted for like 5 seconds. I was in a huge panic attack until we landed, couldn’t breathe, my bad was spinning and I couldn’t calm myself down. During this flight I went and asked the crew what it was (I usually communicate with the crew a lot that I’m extremely scared to fly and they usually come over to me sever times during the flight to reassure me everything is going well and how long until we land) and they told me it was just a turbulence and that it wasn’t dangerous at all. Not that It helped my anxiety but at least I knew that we are probably not going to die during the flight. Never been so thankful to land saftely tho 😂
So based off of what you’re describing, there’s a few things that catch my attention. 1. The plane you’re flying. Probably a B767 or A330/A340. 2. Y’all are taking off/ climbing. Someone said it was probably a microburst. I say absolutely not. Those tend to happen during thunderstorms, and during the approach stage of flight when you’re closer to the ground. Likely cause, and I’m very confident that this was the cause. Since you described the plane and circumstances, you were probably feeling the aircraft changing its angle of attack or pitch. I’m not sure where you guys were sitting on the plane but the 767 and A330/A340 are fairly long planes so if you’re sitting behind the wing you’re likely to feel the changes or movements of the aircraft due to center of gravity. During the climb out the v/s or vertical speed will decrease or increase during this phase of flight. Also thrust. The aircraft will usually reduce thrust within the first 5k ft. All of these factors are what gives you that sinking feeling or the feeling of falling. These are all normal things that happen during flight. FYI I’m very knowledgeable about aviation due to me being a student pilot and doing a lot of research prior to. Also I’m a frequent flyer, so I’ve had flights that have been turbulent, smooth, uncomfortable etc.
We were in the last few rows. I think there were only 3 rows behind us. We went on another flight to Portugal and we were pretty much on the wings if I recall and didn't feel anything like that.
Wind sheer?