My plane hit some birds, I was told to brace for impact

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like the flight crew did everything right. You did have an emergency landing. I’m glad it went smoothly and that the flight crew gave you the information you needed in case damage to the plane had created an emergency on the ground.

I mean for goodness sake, they can’t see the engines. They can’t see the landing gear. They have to prepare for the worst case scenario. I’m sorry you are disrupted from the stress but that’s because you were in an emergency situation and you were very lucky that it worked out so well. The stress and trauma are totally justified and real and appropriate. I encourage you to seek counseling to deal with the trauma but I can’t see why you would be upset at the flight crew.

+1 It really sounds like the flight crew were a textbook example of doing things right and keeping you all safe. That was their priority, you know, keeping you safe. So you should be thanking God that they were on-the-ball and working hard to keep you safe, not jaw-boning them because you were scared and no one gave you a hug. That flight crew sounds like a crew I would want to fly with ANY TIME!!! Kudos to them.

Also for the advice from another poster for OP to not book into an evacuation row again.

No one said I needed a hug. I was saying that they MIGHT have announced why we were returning to the airport, and that because equipment might have been affected, they needed to go through emergency procedures. That is different from simply saying, "We are making an emergency landing. Please prepare to brace for impact."

Why dont you take to Twitter etc to insist that they change their protocol. Because during an emergency, its more important than the pilot take the time to make sure they make the appropriate announcements throughout the emergency vs taking care of it.

+1
Gotta love Monday morning quarterbacking.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm so sorry you had such a traumatic experience. I mean that - what you went through sounds horrible.

It also sounds like a life experience where the flight personnel did their appropriate best.

Sometimes everyone does what's (approximately) right, and life still turns into a traumatic event. That's sad and unfortunate, but it's up to you to process without making someone else pay for it, right? Not every sad event requires a scapegoat, in other words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still so upset. I took a recent flight from Providence to DC and we hit a flock of birds. We didn't know that though. All I knew was 15 minutes into the flight, the flight attendance is telling us we need to make an emergency landing, and we needed to prepare to brace for impact. I was in an exit row, so he came over to us to go over instructions for emergency evaluation. For 8 minutes he is running up and down the aisle and reminding us that we are landing imminently, and prepare to brace for impact.

I texted my son that I loved him and we were having an emergency landing. He called back within 10 seconds and was completely unhinged. I just told him what they were saying, and he was telling me to brace as hard as I could.

Only just before we landed did the flight attendant come back and tell us (in the emergency row) it was a bird strike but we had both engines. So we landed back in Providence without incident.

I was shaking when I exited the flight and took 15 minutes to process what happened. Naturally, by the time I got back up to rebook, there was nothing. I ended up having to fly down to Charlotte and back to DC.

I don't understand why the announcement is not "We hit a flock of birds, and we'll have to return to the airport. We do not know there has been any damage, but in the event there were damage, I'm going to go through emergency procedures."

I have not slept well since this incident. For 10 minutes I thought I was going to die, and it's simply because of the way this was announced.

You’ll get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very thankful that we landed safely.

As for the exit row, I actually remained extremely calm during the flight and was absolutely prepared to help with evacuation. I am reacting to how I felt afterwards. During the event, thinking we were going to crash, I made a few quick texts to my son just to tell him I was fine. I didn't want him to worry about me (if these were my last minutes). And I was fine. I fully accepted this might be the end.

But I definitely do feel traumatized now.
If that is the standard procedure, then I guess I've been very lucky before. Good to know.

It sounds like you did everything right too, and now your reaction after the fact also sounds entirely normal. If these feelings don’t subside in the next week or two, seek therapy. That was scary and your reaction is normal.

[Anonymous]

Typical DCUM piling on with condescending commentary...

[Anonymous]

How are you so fragile? I was in a car that got hit by an 18 wheeler, I got attacked by a homeless person, I had two guns pointed at me, I got stuck in an elevator, I got stuck on a train and we had to walk out of a tunnel.

Shit happens. Buck up a bit. You're fine. You're 100% TOTALLY fine. Maybe remind yourself of that. Focus on that rather than that you were maybe going to have a bumpy landing that might or MIGHT NOT have ended with you dying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Typical DCUM piling on with condescending commentary...

OP placed the ball on a tee and handed us the club.

[Anonymous]

The flight attendant’s primary job is to help customers prepare in case of a problem. They were doing their #1 job well.

I am sorry you are suffering but if it had gone wrong and you weren’t prepared, it could have cost the lives of all those around you.

[Anonymous]

You should not have had your phone on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now you know not to book the exit row because you can’t handle emergencies.

This. Now you know leg room comes with responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

The rule for pilots is ‘Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.’

First goal: keep plane in sky. Second: find suitable landing destination. Third: talk about it (order of importance: ATC, flight crew, ‘people in the back’ aka you).

I’ve been in a few emergency and non-emergency but abnormal situations, like aborted landings. With the actual emergency, we were told ‘I don’t feel comfortable with this engine’ and that was it; we landed 20 mins later (fire engines lining the runway). With the aborted landings, we’re told nothing until you’re back in the sky in holding position. Piloting a plane is busy work, chatting with the passengers is neither necessary nor encouraged in those situations.

[Anonymous]

Having been in the middle of a presumed terrorist incident in another country that was international news I do understand how awful it is to think this could be your last minute. And that nobody can understand that experience. But it does fade. If not please find someone to talk with. Like others it seems to me that your belief that your experience would have been much better if you had the exact reason can never be tested and may just be misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very thankful that we landed safely.

As for the exit row, I actually remained extremely calm during the flight and was absolutely prepared to help with evacuation. I am reacting to how I felt afterwards. During the event, thinking we were going to crash, I made a few quick texts to my son just to tell him I was fine. I didn't want him to worry about me (if these were my last minutes). And I was fine. I fully accepted this might be the end.

But I definitely do feel traumatized now.
If that is the standard procedure, then I guess I've been very lucky before. Good to know.

You probably traumatized him too. Didn't you say he called you back within 10 seconds of your text sounding unhinged. So you were talking to him during the emergency landing.

I can understand feeling that continuing feeling of anxiety b/c I've experienced it too after being hit with by a car. Talk to a professional but don't keep rehashing the experience b/c that keeps it going. It will fade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As for the exit row, I actually remained extremely calm during the flight and was absolutely prepared to help with evacuation.

According to you, you were on a phone call with your Son. Why was your phone on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are you so fragile? I was in a car that got hit by an 18 wheeler, I got attacked by a homeless person, I had two guns pointed at me, I got stuck in an elevator, I got stuck on a train and we had to walk out of a tunnel.

Shit happens. Buck up a bit. You're fine. You're 100% TOTALLY fine. Maybe remind yourself of that. Focus on that rather than that you were maybe going to have a bumpy landing that might or MIGHT NOT have ended with you dying.

+1

I remember love the interview with the flight attendant from “the miracle on the Hudson” when she was whining about the cut on her leg. Lady you just crashed into a river walked away from it and are complaining about a cut on your leg.

Mwanwhile another passenger was standing on the wing of the plane trying to book another flight to home. That is the proper response.