That Time Our Plane's Engine Exploded.
Last Saturday, we woke up in the darkness, booked an uber, and headed out to the airport to hop a plane to Denver. It was an early flight, but we wanted to maximize our time with Tyler's sister. So at 7:00, we boarded AA #2498 direct to Denver.
Viola cozied up in my lap, fell asleep as our plane taxied and soon after our plane took off. We got above the clouds and everything seemed normal. the flight attendants started shuffling ice around and asking our drink orders. Right before we leveled off, a giant explosion happened in our left engine and our plane started falling. Everyone knew at the moment that our left engine was gone. The flight attendants ran to their seats, everyone grabbed the arm rests, and the entire plane was silent as the plane jumbled through the air.
The next ten minutes were terrible. The cockpit never came on to walk us through what was happening. The plane glided and dropped, and the cabin pressure was all over the place. We were descending... but in the weirdest way I've ever felt. The plane sputtered through the sky, Tyler and I said that we loved each other, held onto Viola, and prayed that God would take away any pain that we might feel.
After we were about halfway down from where we started, the captain came on and told us that, yes, we had lost our engine and we would be making an emergency landing back at DFW. There would be emergency vehicles waiting for us, and they thought they would be able to safely land the plane.
It took about fifteen more minutes to get the plane down. As we landed, there were firetrucks and ambulances lining the runway. As we touched down, the whole plane cheered. People cried. And Viola woke up from her deep sleep joining in the applause. At the oblivion of the danger, I couldn't help but sputter out a few sobs of relief.
deboarding the plane. get us outta there.
It was awful, but we ended up being fine. Thanks to the AA crew that got us out of the danger. But man, it sucked. I haven't felt fear like that since the delivery room in my emergency c-section. The type of moment where you can't even breathe because you know that everything that once seemed normal would most likely be gone.
After a few hours of shuffling for a new plane and crew (apparently, after that type of trauma, the flight crew has the option to take paid leave and go home, which ours did), we boarded another S80 and hooked it to Denver. We made it.
So there you have it. People always tell me that I make travel look too easy. I don't think that I do, but in case you wanted a real tale from the trenches, there you have it. We won't be flying anywhere without a giant knot in our tummies for the months ahead. (But, yes, we will still be flying! Back to England and Iceland in the weeks ahead.)
(Also, The Hundred registration closes on Wednesday. Grab up one of the last remaining tickets. This weekend is going to be too good to miss.)