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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

*evacuation, not evaluation

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, OP. That must have been traumatic. I think I’d be at least as upset as you were, if not more. Seeing a therapist to work through this would probably be a good idea if it’s affecting your sleep and wellbeing.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry OP. I went through a similar near-accident this summer and it was really disturbing. I somehow managed to ride out the terror by reminding myself that nothing, in the end, had happened, and just letting the intrusive thoughts wash over me. But I wouldn't have hesitated to get therapy if the intrusive thoughts had lingered. I definitely felt more anxious than usual for the next month (especially around boats/water, which reminded me of our near miss).

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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."

[Anonymous]

They did everything right. They have to prepare for worst case scenario, and the protocol is to do as they did. I was involved in an emergency landing. It was announced that we would be returning to the airport, which would take about 30 min. 10 min in, they started emergency landing procedures. 10 min after that, we emergency landed in a field. It turned out a mechanical problem was noted but didn't seem emergent. Then it became a bit more emergent. And then it became "oh shit".
The second that it looks like failure could happen (which can happen minutes after the bird strike) the proper thing is to do what they did.

You should seek therapy. I did

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry you went through that. If they had the time, that would have been helpful information to know. I know in my one emergency landing, the first officer explained the situation.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I think instead of being so upset, you should be really happy that your flight turned out ok. Expecting the flight attendants to use the words that work better for you, you should be glad they kept their cool and focused on preparing the cabin for all possibilities.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry this happened to you and your family. Please remember that flight crew are working hard to keep you safe in the moment and may not be as sensitive to messaging. If you feel up for it watch the bird scene in Indiana Jones the Last Crusade, but it might be triggering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0vvYHuA10U

[Anonymous]

If I was on a plane that announced we hit some birds I would be much more anxious than if it was just an unspecified emergency landing. Did you see the movie Sully? That one freaked me out, even though they all survived, since I fly in and out of LGA a lot. So I am not sure that telling the passengers the cause of the emergency is actually helpful.