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Hi Capt Lim,
I recently took a flight from Orlando, Florida to Newark, New Jersey on a Boeing 737. As we were boarding, a fierce thunderstorm developed, accompanied by severe lightning and heavy winds which delayed our flight for close to 3 hours. The storm was unending and refused to dissipate and we were stranded in our aircraft during the whole duration. The crew decided not to deplane the passengers with the thought that once the storm cleared, we would be on our way immediately. I felt that was an inconvenience and to keep us on-board that long was inappropriate!
Orlando International Airport, obviously was shut down during this storm, however, once the storm finally relented somewhat, our pilot announced that there was a break in the storm and he was "going to go for it". I didn't feel comfortable hearing this, as I am sure many of the passengers must of felt the same way, but we did get pushed back from the gate and began taxiing towards the runway. I noticed that we were the only plane heading for departure and no other aircrafts were following our lead which lead me to believe that our crew was probably the only pilots willing to take a chance at taking off under severe conditions. Was I correct to assume this? Incidentally, keep in mind how many other flights were delayed that night. The way I see it, if Orlando re-opened, wouldn't the taxi way look gridlock with other anxious delayed flights looking to leave immediately?
Once airborne, we immediately got struck by lightning as the plane cabin flashed brilliant white and before long we were in dense cloud cover. As expected, the turbulence was very intense and bumpy as we climbed through the storm. I believed we might have been hit by lightning several times during our climb. Once our aircraft was able to climb above the cloud layer and I was able to see out of my window again, I noticed a huge mountain of cloud that towered endlessly into the upper atmosphere and we were headed straight for it! It kind of appeared sudden-like and I am sure it must have taken our pilots by surprise as they were unable to fly around it. As we flew directly into this massive cloud, our plane did maneuvers I couldn't have dreamt possible. This was far removed from just 'severe turbulence'....this was something else. For about 10 seconds or so, our plane felt like it "totally" lost control. I was buckled in and I still found myself dangling at the very bottom of my seat. It threw us all over the place and for the first time in my life, I screamed in terror! I am sure the pilot of this aircraft would have done everything to avoid this, but apparently there was nothing he was able to do about it. Once we were able to leave the storm, the aircraft settled down and the remaining flight was stable.
My questions to you are:-
1. Was this pilot a bit too risky at taking a chance to leave Orlando and putting his passengers in an undesirable situation?
2. What exactly happened to our plane once we entered that cloud mass?
3. Should I have made a complaint to the air-carrier or is this routine and my call would have gone into deaf ears? What are my options?
4. Is there such a thing as an airport to re-open and it's up to the crew to decide if they want to exercise the option to leave or are they instructed to leave?
5. Was this flight in any danger of possibly crashing due to the fact that the plane was in a total 'out of control' mode?
Thanks for the time to read this and your site has been very helpful...great job!!
Jerry N.
Hi Jerry,
Here are the answers to your queries:
1. Obviously, the weather was not very good on the day of your flight from Orlando. An airport will normally close when the visibility is bad or the winds are beyond the limits of airplanes. No take-offs or landings would be permitted when the airfield is closed due to inclement weather. If the pilot of the Boeing 737 elected to take off and allowed to do so, the Air Traffic Controllers must have deemed it safe for the airplane to proceed. Whether the pilot took a risk in deciding to continue with the flight is very subjective. He may have made a wrong judgment and I cannot comment further beyond this because I do not know the full circumstances of the flight.
2. What happened to your airplane has been mostly explained in my topic on turbulence. Your plane was subjected to up and down-drafts in the air mass but it would continue to maintain stability due to its design. It would not crash nor break up but would be very uncomfortable for the passengers, as one of my readers described this as, 'similar to riding a roller coaster!'
3. Perhaps you could write to the Airline for an explanation. Who knows? If the Airline is of the opinion that you have been inconvenienced, you may get a complimentary ticket the next time you fly with them again!
4. As in answer No 1, when the Airport is reopened, the Authorities must have considered all the safety aspects of allowing an airplane to take off. Ultimately, the responsibility of a safe flight still rest with the Captain of the airplane.
5. There was no danger of the plane crashing. If the plane was out of control, you would not have arrived at your destination. You merely went through some rough weather with severe turbulence. Just like anything else in our lives, there are times when things don't go in our favor!
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