Bad weather during flight

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Have you guys ever been in an aircraft where there was very bad weather and at some point you thought that maybe things were taking the turn for the worst ?

If you do , share your experiences here , or just share with us any stories you've got about bad weather while flying

[H Azmal 0]

DOn't forget air-pocket experiences too!

[Guest Fendy]

dont think i have ever been in such bad weather so much that it really scared me to that point, but i had my share of flying in bad weather.

 

yikes

 

[Mohd Idham 0]

wahh

 

is that really that 734 wanna take off and dive into that clouds ???

 

any story line Fendy ???

[Guest Fendy]

wahh 

 

is that really that 734 wanna take off and dive into that clouds ??? 

 

any story line Fendy ???

4650[/snapback]

idham, actually this was onboard MH734 at manado. lscary clouds, luckily we din fly through it, we just touched down, but by the time we got out of the airport it was raining like mad.

[S V Choong 4]

Fendy did you go to Manado? Sadly...not an MH destination anymore....

 

I had some bad experience from my last trip during FEB 2005. I was on 9M-MRC (B772) from PVG - KUL. When we were approaching Kuantan, there was a patch of dark cloud in front of us, I think we could not avoid it, so we were told to buckle up and ride through it. At first it wasn't bad, but then it gets quite bumpy, then it turned violently and dropped for about 20-30 seconds, it was so scary, which caused most of the ladies to yell out. My fiance was feeling scary too. The pilots did make the 777 to go slower. When there was a chance, he accelerated and avoided more dark clouds. It had us worried for about a good 15 mins and 30 mins later we landed at KLIA. Landed wasn't bad at all!

[Delwin A 0]

I also had experience of flying in bad weather in Jan 2002 from SZB-KUL on AK. We were approaching KCH when suddenly I saw a dark cloud in front of us. Then suddenly the ride became bumpy for about a few minutes before landed at KCH.

[TK 0]

i had my share a lot too!!!

 

SV Choong..20-30 seconds drop...please explain further.

[Nick R. 0]

KCH-BTU with a 'pitstop' at Sibu on the F50.

Leaving KCH into thunderstorm.

Also remember quite a few bumpy adventures in the Twotter when still small,noticably that strange feeling in the stomache

[Imran K. 0]

DXB-BAH in a sandstorm....

The 773 swerved left and right after we rotated....damn scary!

 

Second one...was on approach into Kuching a few years back on MAS. It started raining heavily as we started approaching KCH....the a/c swerved left...then right...then left..then right again.....then...the aircraft dropped like a rock onto the runway (we were roughly a second away from touching down)..causing the cabin to shake rather violently.

 

The captain said he had to perform such a maneuver....and had to brake as soon as he landed and all that...

 

I managed to go into the cockpit...then my sister asked..."WHO MADE THE PLANE GO DUSHHH!?"

[Azman MN 1]

Swissair MD-11, JNB-ZRH, Sept. 1998. I was a bit nervous because it is only a few weeks after the Swissair crash in Halifax. They announced that there would be no inflight entertainment system - as if to remind us why we should be nervous (rumours were that the IFE caused a fire).

 

Pre-takeoff delay because there was a thunderstorm at the airport. I thought, come-on lah... in Malaysia I always see planes taking off and landing in thunderstorms...

 

After one hour, the rain stopped so we took off. I think only about 2 to 3 minutes after the long take off roll (JNB is around 6000ft asl), the plane started shaking violently, and then we dropped for a few seconds, I mean, I felt like zero-G and my seat belt was keeping me in my seat. I think the drop lasted 3 to 5 seconds maybe and then we suddenly stopped dropping, as if the plane caught some air again, and I was pushed quite hard into my seat. What was really scary is the sound of the air frame bending when we stopped dropping... A huge groan, and I was scared that the wing would snap. You could here it on top of all the screaming people. Then the plane levelled off, picked up speed and continued to climb and we made it to Zurich without further drama.

 

After that experience I was a bit scared last year when I was flying MIA-ZRH on a Swiss A332, 6 hours before Hurrican Jeanne landed on Florida. It was the last flight out of Miami, and you could see baggage flying off carts because of the wind. Luckily, I think we took off against the wind, plane was almost empty and it was definitely the fastest takeoff I have ever experienced (wonder if Alex Kueh can create a picture of this takeoff for me ?). In the end, it was actually a normal flight.

 

Landing in London City is also interesting in bad weather. Steep angle of attack, short runway.... . In good weather, it is really fun. In bad weather.. oh god...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[T Azahan 1]

chennai-kul. year 2001. in the bus. the notorious bay of bengal. shaking all the way until straits of malacca. sometimes violently at intervals. some pax tapau and ate capatis and vindaloo curry peacefully as if nothing happened outside the window. stupid night to fly tho the vindaloo smell was damn good!

[S V Choong 4]

SV Choong..20-30 seconds drop...please explain further

 

TK It wasn't a continous drop, just as soon as it droped for a few seconds then we felt that the a/c climb a little and then dropped again, at times was quite severe. The whole drama lasted for quite a while. Not sure if this is a reasonable explanation.

 

Would like to hear it straight from a pilot. TK, could you please tell us your experience?

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

I had one experience ...

On the unfortunate day of the Tsunami , 26th December

I departed PEN @ about 2 PM on MH 7 for my flight back to KL

It was just as we departed that the tsunami hit penang

But anyways , as we were descending into KUL , there were really dark clouds below us .

Didn't have a real good feeling about that

Seatbelt sign was turned on and the captain asked the cabin crew to return to their stations and we went through some pretty good turbulence that kinda gave me the freaks ...

 

There was another time too going to penang , and we were descending , just towards the left of the penang bridge , i could feel the aircraft drop quite significantly and it takes quite a bit to give me the freaks when its in the aircraft , but those two occasions .. woah .. scary scary

[Peter Smith 1]

Hmm, my worst few...

A320-211 VH-HYF PER-MEL, violent drop on decent into MEL, we hit a small airpocket.

 

747-338 VH-EBU "Nalanji Dreaming" BNE-SYD, departed in violent tropical storm, gusts up to 45kts. Cruise was on 3 engines, due to problems on Numer 2 (nothing too major, never heard anymore about it)

 

A330-201 VH-EBB "Albany" SYD-BNE quite heavy chop on approach rwy19 at BNE, hit a small pocket in the flare, very hard landing. BNE is known for windshear.

 

737-301 9M-AAK (now HS-AAK) SIN-BKK-SIN, heavy chop at FL370 on the way up, and right through an electrical storm on the way back that evening.

 

These flying experiences only add the joy of flying. However, most pilots will testify, bumpy weather when slow and slow is usually not the best, makes that greaser just a little bit harder to execute.

[Sim Lim Shen 0]

My worst experience was back in 1996, DL from DFW - LGA. On approach to La Guardia, the weather was so bad it threw our aircraft (B757) up and down. That was the first time I grabbed hold of the seat arm during turbulance as at times my back side was really lifted off from the seat.

 

After the plane landed, everybody gave the pilots a big round of applause.

 

Unfortunately, less than one hour after we touched down, a DL MD-80 or something skidded off runway and the airport was closed. As a result, I could not make my connection and had to spend the night at the airport. I ended up connecting our flight at EWR to our next destination.