I am currently not a pilot but I have always been fascinated with flying.  That is probably why I was a flight attendant for a little bit! As a flight attendant I remember one flight were out of no where we hit some major turbulence and I was in the back galley.  Luckily I had just secured the food carts and was getting ready to do a walk through...but I was thrown around like rag doll.  Then the fasten seatbelt sign went on.  I was terrified because there was not even a possible warning from the pilots.  So My whole reason for posting this is I am curious of what everyones scariest flight experience was.  Whether you were a pilot, co pilot, passenger whatever!! I am just curious.  People do not get scared by these stories because they are very rare and it is safer to fly in a plane than drive a car. 

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I have one to share too. That is a horrible flight experience.  The flight was on Northwest and it was from Orlando to Detroit.  Somewhere over Kentucky the entire plane dropped what must have been almost 8000 feet after running through an air pocket quite quickly.  Everyone's stuff went up into the air, people were vomiting, and everyone was either screaming or praying.. At the last minute the plane began to climb and level off.  I know this kind of stuff occurs quite frequently but I think it was the longest I've ever been in practically zero g on a commercial aircraft.  The only comparable situation would of been a flight from LAX to Tokyo where we were over the Pacific and similarly hit an air pocket and fell nose down for thousands of feet. 

I was working for Northwest Airlines, on a flight from Memphis to Detroit, in stormy weather. We were holding, and the woman next to me was obviously not comfortable in the air, as she was fingering her rosary the entire flight!

Anyway - holding in DTW's airspace, the 767 was in turbulence that was causing the plane to bank 60-degrees in both directions, and the woman next to me was getting more and more nervous. I tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed across the aisle and back one row to a deadheading pilot who was sleeping through the whole episode.

I told her that as soon as HE woke up and was worried, then *I* would be worried. until then, have no fear.

ahartley:

...she was fingering her rosary the entire flight!

Surely a way to calm the anxiety or ... trying to get your attention ;)

Well, I am currently undergoing it as I write this, so don't know how bad its gonna turn out. Ok, let's start:

* Flight from Pune to Delhi, AI 850, supposed to leave from Pune at 18:40.
* On the same day morning, they had a flight caught up with some problem (Destined to delhi itself), so they decide to use the flight purposed for AI 850 to fly the delayed passengers, they start informing the AI850 passengers starting at 17:00 hrs about the delay, new ETD is 21:00 hrs.(When most people were either already there at airpot or have already left their home)
* Passengers are now waiting for boarding announcement after Security Check. It was 20:45hrs, no announcement. It was 21:00hrs, still no announcement. Some passengers get agitated and start contacting airline staff, at around 21:15 they announce it is further delayed (yes, as if no one got to know!). New ETD is 22:00hrs.
* You guessed right, it was 22:00hrs and no announcement yet, at around 22:05, they announce flight infinetley delayed due to some engineering problem.
* They announce saying people who want to board GoAir flight at 22:50 can get complete refund and a discounted ticket from GoAir at 6k INR. Now its all chaos.
* They annonunce they are ready to provide cancellation certificate to govt. employees.
* Oh btw, they are not refunding in Cash, it will be credited in your account. You need to get 6k from somewhere to book ticket from GoAir. Great!
* People start screaming at them, ask for new flight, food etc. Already few people are in a fix.

(Ok, flight announced, need to go)