14 Chilling Things Pilots Said After Realizing Their Plane I…
One of the scariest things that can happen to you is being in an emergency situation while flying. While the absolute majority of pilots can get everything under control and get their passengers to their destinations safely, not everyone is as lucky.
Sometimes, disaster strikes. The ‘Echoes’ (@echoesstoriess) YouTube channel has featured some of the most terrifying things that pilots have said right before tragedy struck. Today, we’re sharing the most frightening real audio transcripts with you. You’ll find them as you scroll down.
A small note of warning: you might want to avoid these stories if you have aerophobia or if you’ve got a flight coming up this week.
April 10th, 2010, Air Force Flight 101 was set to fly from Warsaw, Poland, to Smolensk, Russia. On board the Polish TU-154M were 96 people, including the then president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife, Maria, along with other top government members and parliamentarians. They were heading to a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.
the plane had recently undergone repairs, and technicians guaranteed its full functionality. Its Captain, Arkadiusz Protasiuk, had over 3,500 flight hours under his belt, so nothing indicated disaster. As flight 101 departed from Warsaw, Smolensk was unexpectedly blanketed in thick fog, reducing visibility to dangerously low levels. Air traffic controllers warned the Polish government plane’s crew of the worsening weather and suggested redirecting, however, the captain decided to attempt a test approach, despite visibility dropping to a critical 400m. instead of the required 16,000m.: “If it’s fine, we will try landing, but if weather conditions are bad, we will reascend and make a second Circle.”
The plane suddenly descended to a dangerously low altitude, veering far off the safe landing trajectory. “Pull up, pull up, re-ascend for the second Circle! F**k!” The plane clipped trees, flipped midair, and plummeted to the ground. The impact caused the fuselage to shatter, and it exploded. All 96 people on board lost their lives. Investigations concluded that the crew should never have attempted to land in such critical weather conditions.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the fear of flying (aka aerophobia) is incredibly common. In the United States alone, around 25 million adults struggle with it.
Some of the main triggers of aerophobia include:
- News stories about crashes or violence on airplanes
- Turbulence
- Takeoff and landing
- Thinking about either fire or illness spreading through the plane
The fear of flying can be even worse when combined with other phobias. For instance, with acrophobia (the fear of heights), agoraphobia (the fear of leaving the house or not being able to escape from a place), anthropophobia (the fear of people), claustrophobia (the fear of crowded and confined spaces), and mysophobia (aka germaphobia, the fear of germs).
September 25th, 1978, a Pacific Southwest Boeing 727-214 was making a routine commercial flight from Sacramento to San Diego with a stopover in Los Angeles. On board were 126 passengers and 7 crew members. The plane was captained by James E. McFaron, an experienced pilot with 17 years of service. As the Boeing headed to San Diego, something unexpected happened.
At the same time, a Cessna 172, a single-engine plane with 2 people on board, was conducting a training flight. Air Traffic Control warned the Boeing crew that the Cessna was approaching from the East, “Yeah, but I don’t see him now.” “Okay, we had it there a minute ago.” Despite this, uncertainty filled the cockpit as Captain McFaron repeatedly asked, “Are we clear of that Cessna?” “Supposed to be, I guess, I hope.”
The Boeing received permission to land, and the pilots focused on preparing for descent. At this time, the controllers did not notice the planes approaching. Then, at 792., the passenger plane suddenly struck the Cessna’s right wing, causing it to explode. The Boeing’s wing sustained severe damage, igniting a fuel tank, and the plane began to fall. “We’re hit, man, we are hit! This is it, brace yourself. Mom, I love you.” These were the last words spoken before the airliner went into a steep dive and almost vertically crashed into the North Park residential area of San Diego. The tragedy claimed the lives of all 135 people aboard, both Pilots of the Cessna and 7 people on the ground.
August 31st, 1988, Texas. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 104 passengers were boarding a Boeing 727 operated by Delta Airlines, Bound for Colorado Springs. The cockpit voice recorder captured a conversation between the pilots and a flight attendant as the crew awaited takeoff clearance. They shared thoughts on the presidential election, and joked that in the event of an accident, they should leave something funny on the voice recording. This was a blatant violation of the sterile cockpit rule, which prohibits informal conversations during critical phases of flight.
However, the first pilot, Wilson Kirkland, continued chatting during the engine’s start-up checklist, and Captain Larry Davis didn’t attempt to stop him. As the plane approached the runway, Wilson called out each item on the checklist, and Kirkland confirmed readiness, “Engine anti-ice?” “It’s closed.” “Shoulder harness?” “They’re on.” “Flaps?” “15,15, green light.” This indicated the flap setting, which, in reality, had not deployed.
The captain increased the engines to take off power. The nose lifted, but the plane struggled to get airborne. Strangely, the system did not warn of the retracted flaps. Finally, the Boeing barely climbed to around 150m. when the takeoff configuration warning system activated, indicating major issues, but the crew couldn’t understand why. “Something’s wrong!” The plane shook violently, and the pilots hesitated. “We got an engine failure!” Kirkland exclaimed. In reality, had the pilots lowered the nose, it would have allowed the airflow to pass correctly through the engines, and they would have resumed functioning. Since they didn’t, the plane descended and sped toward the end of the runway.
The captain tried to regain control, but it was too late, “We’re not going to make it!” In less than a second, the right wing clipped an instrument landing system antenna, and the plane crashed to the ground. The Boeing broke into 3 pieces and came to a stop near the airport fence.
Flames erupted from the fuel tanks, sending a column of black smoke over the airport. Surviving passengers and crew frantically scrambled from the wreckage, helping those pinned beneath heavy debris. The tragedy claimed 27 lives, including both Pilots, while over 80 others were injured.
The chances of you being in a catastrophic aerial event are ridiculously low. According to Nova, the annual risk of you losing your life in a plane crash is a measly 1 in 11 million in the United States. Compare that to the risk of you passing away in a motor vehicle crash, which is roughly 1 in 5,000 in the US.
Meanwhile, Baggett Law notes that the chances of a commercial airplane crashing are a tiny 0.000001%. The odds of you losing your life in a plane crash are 1 in 816,545,929. “To put it into perspective, you have a better chance of winning a Powerball jackpot.”
May 3rd, 1968, Dawson, Texas. An Airways Lockheed L188A Electra of Braniff International Airways took off for its regular domestic flight, flight 352, from Houston to Dallas. There were 5 crew members and 80 passengers on board. 25 minutes after takeoff, Captain John Phillips climbed the aircraft to over 6,000m. When he noticed a severe thunderstorm ahead. The pilots immediately requested clearance to descend to 4,500m. and alter their course.
The controllers advised them to head east, as other planes on the same route had already done, but Phillips made a different call: “352, does it look better on our scope, here it looks like just a little bit to the west would do us real fine.” For a brief moment, it seemed like the right choice, but soon the storm unleashed its fury, and the Lockheed found itself in turbulence.
The pilots realized they were trapped and requested a 180° turn to escape the storm. Air Traffic Control approved the maneuver, yet the fierce winds made controlling the plane nearly impossible. The Lockheed rolled to the right at an angle exceeding 90°, then pitched downward and began to plummet. The plane began breaking apart in midair. As it nosedived, the last thing the flight recorder captured was the sound of the fire alarm. The crash claimed the lives of all 85 people on board.
August 12th, 1985, Flight 123 of Japan Airlines prepared for a domestic flight from Haneda airport, Tokyo, to Itami airport, Osaka. The aircraft, a Boeing 747-100SR, was a giant. On board were 509 passengers and 15 crew members. For a while, the flight was smooth, but soon the consequences of a poor repair job from 7 years prior came to light.
Back then, the plane had scraped its tail on landing. Over the years, cracks in the rear bulkhead deepened. Now, at an altitude of over 7,000m., a piece of the tail broke off the plane and the hydraulic lines, controlling the Boeing, were severed. For the next 32 minutes, the plane was nearly uncontrollable, being tossed up and down. Captain Masami Takahama and his crew fought to keep the aircraft aloft, hoping for a miracle.
The plane was rapidly losing altitude, “Nose up… Nose up… Power… It’s the end.” Hope for survival was gone. The right wing struck a forested ridge. The fuselage began to disintegrate, and finally, the plane exploded. One of the passengers, Yumi Ochiai, was pinned under debris. She waved at a helicopter circling overhead, but they didn’t see her.
It wasn’t until the next day, 16 hours later, that rescuers found her. That’s when she learned she was one of only 4 survivors. The crash claimed 520 lives, making it the deadliest accident in aviation history.
Flight 2605 of Western Airlines was nicknamed the Night Owl. It crashed on Halloween 1979. Due to fog, the pilots landed on a closed runway with trucks and workers. The plane hit a truck and crashed into a building. The last words of the pilots, recorded by the cockpit voice recorder:
Captain: We’re cleared on the right, is that correct?
Captain: No, this is the approach to the god-d**n left.
First officer: Yeah, climb to 8500 and uh-
First officer: Charlie, get it up!
Captain: Oh Jesus Christ!
[screaming in terror and sound of final impact]
Despite what you’ve been seeing in the news recently, the general trend in flying is one of increasing safety. Based on a BBC Verify data analysis in the US and worldwide, there has been a general downward trend in air accidents over the past two decades.
“This NTSB data shows a general fall in air accidents in the US from 2005 to 2024 despite a significant increase in the overall number of flights over this period,” the BBC notes. “Data from International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a UN body which monitors global air incidents, shows that the number of worldwide accidents per million plane departures has also seen a clear downward trend between 2005 and 2023.”
Furthermore, you have to keep in mind that the ICAO also defines aircraft accidents very broadly, including situations where the plane needs repairs or goes missing, not just when someone is injured or loses their life. What’s more, globally, there has been a decrease in air accidents, despite spikes in some years when major disasters occur.
On a stormy Day in 1985, Delta flight 191 was flying from Florida to Los Angeles with a stop in Dallas. As it neared the runway, a sudden gust of wind slammed it to the ground. It hit a car and two water tanks and exploded. 137 lives were lost in a microburst. The last words of the pilots were recorded by the cockpit voice recorder:
Captain: You’re gonna lose it all of a sudden. There it is. Push it up, push it way up, way up.
Flight engineer: Push it way up!
First officer: S**t!
[sound of impact]
Adam Air Flight 574, a flight that vanished into thin air. On New Year’s Day in 2007, Adam Air Flight 574 was a scheduled domestic flight from Surabaya to Monado, two cities in Indonesia. The pilots lost control of the aircraft, the plane crashed into the Makassar Strait, the last recorded words of the pilots were:
First officer: Oh cap, cap, look. Pull up! Pull up!
Captain: No!
Both pilots: Allahu akbar! Allah… Allah. Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!
Royal Air Maroc Flight 630. The flight took off from Agadir, Morocco, in 1994, but it never reached its destination. One of the pilots crashed the plane on purpose, killing all 44 people on board. Here are the last words of the pilot:
Pilot: Don’t come fast… Come slowly, bring it slowly. Don’t lose the axis. It’s unbalanced. Get me this fuel!
Tower: Turn left after takeoff!
Pilot: I’m going to die!
Co-pilot: No! No, no, not old man!
Pilot: What did you do?!
Which of these pilot and airplane catastrophe stories unnerved you the most, Pandas? What is the scariest flight you’ve ever been on? Have you ever been in a genuine airplane crash?
If you have a fear of flying, what do you do to keep it under control while traveling? If you’d like to share your thoughts and experiences, feel free to do so in the comments at the very bottom of this post.
On January 13th, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street bridge over the icy river after takeoff from Washington DC, due to severe winter weather and ice on the wings. The tragic accident resulted in the deaths of 78 people, including four motorists on the bridge.
Captain: It’s spooled, real cold, real cold.
First officer: God, look at that thing. That don’t seem right, does it? That’s not right.
Captain: It is, there’s eighty.
First officer: Naw, I don’t think it’s right. Maybe it is.
Captain: Forward, easy, we only want 500…
Captain: Stalling! We’re falling!
First officer: We’re going down, Larry!
Captain: I know!
[sound of impact]
TAM Airlines flight 3054. It was a regular domestic flight from Porto Alegre to São Paulo, Brazil. On July 17th, 2007, the Airbus A320-233 failed to stop on a wet and short runway and crashed into a warehouse and a gas station. The final words recorded by the black box:
First officer: Reverse number one only
Captain: Spoilers, nothing. Al! Look at this.
First officer: Decelerate, decelerate!
Captain: I can’t, I can’t! Oh my God! Oh my God!
First officer: Go go go, turn turn turn!
On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 faced engine failure after hitting geese but successfully landed on the Hudson River, known as The Miracle on the Hudson.
LGAC: Cactus 1529 over the George Washington Bridge wants to go to the airport right now.
TEB: He wants to go to our airport, check. Does he need any assistance?
LGAC: Yes, he was a bird strike. Can I get him in for runway 1?
TEB: Runway 1, that’s good
LGAC: Cactus 1529, turn right 280. You can land runway 1 at Teterboro.
Captain: We can’t do it
LGAC: Okay, which runway would you like at Teterboro?
Captain: We’re gonna be in the Hudson
Gol Transportes Aéreos flight 1907 was flying from Manaus to Rio in 2006 when it hit another plane over Mato Grosso. The 737 lost half of its wing and crashed in the jungle, killing 154 people. The other plane landed safely. The cause was ATC errors and the Legacy Pilot’s negligence. Last recorded pilot’s audio:
*impact with other aircraft*
Captain: What is happening?!
First officer: Oh my God!
Captain: Calm, calm!
First officer: Oh s**t!
Captain: Calm, calm!
[aircraft breaks up]
On February 19th, 1989, Flying Tiger Line flight 66 crashed in Malaysia whilst on approach to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Known as Subang Airport Today) from the south. The cause of the crash is due to miscommunication between ATC and the captain. The ATC instructed to descend to 2,400 feet. But he misinterpreted it as TO four zero zero, which is 2,000 feet too low. Unaware of the situation, the flight crew continued with their descent and crashed into Bukit Wawasan near Puchong.
*siren* PULL UP!
Unknown: Oh!
Second officer: I’ve got a hundred feet on the-
Unknown: S**t!
*impact*
