Flying into Phoenix in 1981, to go to Gunsite for API 250 with a buddy. On final approach, as I'm looking out the window, we hit what I now know was wind sheer. As I'm watching, the plane drops straight down, flight attendents who had not yet buckled in were pinned to the ceiling of the cabin. I could hear the throttles being increased, but we were still dropping. Finally, we regained forward motion, but it felt and looked like we were very close to the ground. The landing felt almost horizontal, but we survived. A couple of the cabin crew were injured when they fell from the ceiling. My buddy had been shot down twice in helicopters in Vietnam. He told me that this event was more frightening. After class we both debated renting a car and driving back to Pittsburgh. Enough alcohol enabled us to get on the flight home. I was a very nervous flyer for many years following the episode.

Over the years I've had numerous "unpleasant" incidences on an aircraft, but here are just a few.

I once was a passenger in a PA18 when the pilot inadvertently selected "off" on the fuel selector valve for take off instead of " both". We were on a 5000 foot paved runway, had just broken ground and had attained maybe 150 of altitude with our nose high in the air when it became suddenly silent. Got the nose down and got it on the ground before the runway ran out.

Mext. I was flying a C150 into an unfamiliar airport and a Bonanza was fast approaching from the rear as I was on downwind. Hurriedly reached over to put on carb heat and pulled the mixture out by mistake, killing the engine. It started right up without a problem but did cause a considerable pucker.

Was on a De Havilland twin turbo Jet Stream flying north right above the Sierra Nevada ridge heading into Bridgeport California when we were hit with an extreme wind sheer. Instead of vertically, it was horizontal and felt like you had been t-bone in an intersection in an automobile. All the passengers were holding on to the seat backs and turning green., I turned to the guy next to me and in idle conversation asked him if he had flown this route often. He said yes. "Multiple times a day." He was a pilot for that airline. Later I did some research and read some references on turbulence and found out that location was one of the worst in the country. Sailplanes typically would go there to get life, but more than one had been destroyed by mid air breakup do to turbulence.

I wasn't involved in this one, but was too close for comfort:

I was a passenger with another guy in a PA18 at our local, uncontrolled airport. We were in the process of landing when someone in the "tower" gave us a red signal light. We immediately pulled off the runway on to the grass when a DC3 from Central airline touched down behind us. As it rolled passed I immediately noticed that something was wrong but it took a moment to assess the picture and see what had happened. We immediately pulled into the grass tie down area by the terminal when a C170 pulled up beside us, the engine cowling was missing, there was a dent in the leading edge of one of the wings and the top-front of the vertical fin had a strange bend in it. The DC3 had it's horizontal stabilizer, elevator , fin and rudder complete chewed up.

The DC3 had been in the pattern to the airport when the Cessna was making circles just south of the airport when the C170 also making circles looking a things on on the ground collided. The Cessna went under the tail of the DC3. There were 21 people aboard the DC3 and five in the Cessna. (pilot and four very small children.) At the actual time of the collision I estimate we were less than a half mile away.

I was 250 lbs. 30 years ago and 6 ft'4.

I got a middle seat half way back in to the jet airliner.

when I get there , there is two guys on either side of me , with the exact same dimensions



All three of us had our elbows out in front of us , thinking of an early death , instead of the 3 1/2 hour flight .

A very nice attendant with a pretty smile was walking back to the tail of the plane and then she came back and told me to come with her.

( Dear Penthouse , I thought )

She pointed to three seats that were all empty , and said , they are all yours !

I gave her a $20.00 tip , that she tried to wave off , but I insisted