TORNADO HITS PLANE, STRANGE CALM AFTER THE STORM. On April 22, 2011, a tornado hit the airplane I was on while on the tarmac. I was looking out the window as I heard my flight got delayed, then all of a sudden everything turned black. The airplane started shaking uncontrollably. People started screaming on the airplane. I was reading The Smartest Guys in the Room and continued reading as the woman next to me grabbed her husband and started wheezing. At that moment, I thought to myself, “Is this really the way I’m going to go?” It was calming but depressing at the same time. Less than a minute… See more.
On April 22, 2011, a tornado hit the airplane I was on while on the tarmac. I was looking out the window as I heard my flight got delayed, then all of a sudden everything turned black. The airplane started shaking uncontrollably. People started screaming on the airplane. I was reading The Smartest Guys in the Room and continued reading as the woman next to me grabbed her husband and started wheezing. At that moment, I thought to myself, “Is this really the way I’m going to go?” It was calming but depressing at the same time.
Less than a minute later, everything was calm. People demanded to go back into the airplane terminal. The pilot announced over the intercom, “It is not possible to go inside the terminal because we are over 100 yards away from the gate. Also, every single window in the terminal is blown out. There is glass everywhere.” I looked outside my window and saw emergency vehicles everywhere. After waiting about 20 minutes, I saw a metal spire piercing the airplane as I exited the plane.
At that moment, I went super calm. I called the hotel I stay at, reserved a room, and walked through one of the untouched airport terminals. I waited for the hotel shuttle outside and saw flipped cars. After checking in, I went to the gym and ran, the only person there. Later, I saw people wrapped in blankets lining the hallways. That night, I wrote down why I thought the plane didn’t flip. The next morning, I realized it made no sense—but I had slept well.
