Because of risky flight conditions, a plane heading from Atlanta, Georgia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July, 2008 almost crashed during its landing. For many passengers, including seven year old Blake Hoffmaster and his family, the experience was traumatizing. Hoffmaster, now a freshman in high school, recalls the event, remembering that the plane was flying through a thunderstorm, and the first signs of a problem was turbulence, then the plane dropped 400 feet in two seconds when attempting to land. As he was young at the time and did not understand what exactly was happening, Hoffmaster thought the bumpy ride and sudden plunge was “cool”. The ride had been smooth up until that point.
After the initial drop, instead of continuing to land, the plane was flown upwards …show more content…
During this portion of the flight, Hoffmaster recalls that, while he was frightened, most of the other people on board were much more fearful. He and his brother, sister, and parents had been coming home from a vacation in Atlanta. He remembers that his brother (who was fifteen at the time) was the most panicked, his mother was almost as scared as his brother, and his father and sister were more alarmed than him, as they understood the severity of the situation, but remained reasonably calm. However, Hoffmaster says that other passengers were “throwing up everywhere. It was gross.” Others were yelling and crying, some seemed to Hoffmaster to be unfazed and thought the circumstances were simply unusual. He also remembers that there was one man in front of him that was entirely serious, and that his mother told him to look at him if he ever became overly afraid. Hoffmaster also stated that throughout all of this, one of the plane’s windows was open; he says it was “super dark” and could not see anything other than darkness and distant flashes of lightning, so he could not see the
After the initial drop, instead of continuing to land, the plane was flown upwards …show more content…
During this portion of the flight, Hoffmaster recalls that, while he was frightened, most of the other people on board were much more fearful. He and his brother, sister, and parents had been coming home from a vacation in Atlanta. He remembers that his brother (who was fifteen at the time) was the most panicked, his mother was almost as scared as his brother, and his father and sister were more alarmed than him, as they understood the severity of the situation, but remained reasonably calm. However, Hoffmaster says that other passengers were “throwing up everywhere. It was gross.” Others were yelling and crying, some seemed to Hoffmaster to be unfazed and thought the circumstances were simply unusual. He also remembers that there was one man in front of him that was entirely serious, and that his mother told him to look at him if he ever became overly afraid. Hoffmaster also stated that throughout all of this, one of the plane’s windows was open; he says it was “super dark” and could not see anything other than darkness and distant flashes of lightning, so he could not see the