What NOT To Say During a Panic…

During a recent flight out of Denver heading to Houston, TX, Continental Airlines Flight 1404 skidded off the runway and sent the passengers into a panic. During that panic, these words of encouragement were yelled, ’The plane’s going to blow up, the plane’s going to blow up!”’

I can’t even imagine what that experience would be like as I’m pretty much terrified from the takeoff until the plane levels out and reaches it’s “cruising altitude”. If there’s turbulence, forget about it, I’m white-knuckling it all the way. 

I’m also a deep thinker in that I think, “Why do our tray tables need to be closed, why must my seat back be in the upright position, and is the seatbelt really going to help me (and why can’t it reach long enough for me to lay over three seats if I want to)? Will the floatation device under my seat really support me and will it help me fight off the sharks? Am I wearing non-flammable pants and who is the meatiest fellow passenger in case we have a need-to-eat thy neighbor situation?” All really healthy thoughts, I know. 

Thankfully, I have never had a truly harrowing flying experience and I’m thankful that it appears people weren’t seriously injured. I also can’t help but wonder if they get double-miles for that trip, or if half the flight was experience a terrible “420″ moment, or perhaps if one person on board had their cell phone and other approved electronics in the ‘on’ position during takeoff. I guess I might never know, but these are the things I ponder.