Imagine being told by a flight attendant mid-flight that it might be time to say goodbye and accept your fate. For one traveller, this wasn't a scene from a film but a terrifying reality during what she describes as the 'hands down the worst flight of my life'.
A Routine Flight Turns Into a Nightmare
Maudeline, originally from France, has shared the chilling story of a journey she took in 2008 when she was just ten years old. Travelling with her parents, two siblings, and grandparents, the family was flying with the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines from Goa to Bangalore in India.
The flight on the small propeller plane should have taken just over an hour. However, after a normal take-off, the aircraft entered a zone of extreme turbulence caused by a severe storm. 'What we were not expecting was the sound of hail hitting the aircraft,' Maudeline explained. The hail was so intense that passengers could hear it pounding against the metal fuselage.
'Accept Our Fate': The Cabin Crew's Panic
The turbulence was so violent that the plane felt like it was 'dropping hundreds of metres' at a time. Cabin service had begun when the chaos started, leaving flight attendants stranded in the aisles gripping trays, unable to return to their seats.
As panic spread and the entire aircraft screamed, one flight attendant approached Maudeline's distressed sister. Initially offering reassurance, the attendant's composure cracked. 'She's telling my sister, "If it's time to go, it's important to accept our fate, it's in God's hands. At least we'll get to say goodbye,"' Maudeline recalled. Sitting directly behind, the young girl thought, 'Oh my god, we're going to die.'
Aftermath of the Terrifying Ordeal
The traumatic episode, which felt like it lasted forever, eventually subsided. The cabin was left in a state of shock. 'Everyone is just pale. I think a couple people had thrown up. It was horrendous,' Maudeline said. Even when drinks were served 20 minutes later, she was too shaken to touch hers.
Commenting on the story online, others expressed horror, with one person stating they would never board a propeller plane. Notably, a pilot expressed shock that the aircraft flew into a hailstorm at all, remarking: 'Normally, as pilots, we go around those. The turbulence can be so severe it rips parts off the plane.'
Maudeline's viral account serves as a stark reminder of the profound anxiety that extreme turbulence can cause, compounded by a loss of confidence in the crew's calm authority.
