By now, everyone who watches the news at all, has seen the video of the passenger plane trying to land at the airport in Germany on March 1/08. There was a hurricane crosswind, and they nearly wrecked.
The pilot was very skilled, and saved them from a fiery death. One wing even scraped the ground. I would fly with him anytime.
I also had a ride similar to that in 2005. I was on a Viet Nam Airlines jet, coming into Saigon. I think the pilot we had was new at the job, and he hit the ground so hard that we bounced up in the air. Then, when we came down again, the plane was at an angle. The tires were screeching and bouncing, and the plane felt like it was shaking apart.
I have flown many times, all over the world, but I have never had a ride like that before. I hope not to have one like that again. I thought I was going to be in a wreck.
There were people from many countries on that plane, but for a couple minutes everyone was white. When we stopped, a Chinaman and I looked at each other and just shook our heads. It is funny now.
One time in Cambodia, I flew on a local airline, that had old planes with not enough maintenance. One tire on the plane was so worn out that the cords were even worn through. And, the door kept coming open between the cabin and cockpit. That was fun.
Another time, I was in a foreign country, and I saw a rubber raft that flew. I got a ride on the thing, and will never forget that either. It just about cured me of flying. Especially on an ultralight type of airplane.
There was a wind that day, and it blew that thing all around. We were about 500 feet high, and there were no seatbelts or anything. I had to hang onto the seat bottom. Sometimes a head wind blew the raft front up in front of us, and stopped us in the air.
I almost kissed the ground when we got back to the beach.
After all that, I still believe that flying is safer than other ways to travel. But, sometimes it can be thrilling.
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