TOM7502 to ZTH on 25/09/09 - Did we hit a microburst?

[Browners]

Hi all

Had a rather terrifying experience on TOM7502 to Zakynthos on Friday September 25th. About 45 mins away from ZTH we looked out the window and saw a bolt of lightning very close, then hearing a loud bang. (On the return flight the stewardess confirmed we'd been hit by lightning)

Then we entered the roughest turbulence I've ever experienced followed by the aircraft dropping suddenly downwards for a good ten seconds before being slammed right at a steep angle, most of the passengers were screaming which really didn't help my 2 year old daughter :ugh:. The pilot did recover it though and after landed the crew said it was the longest drop they had experienced in 14 years.

So for anyone with flying experience was it just an air pocket or a microburst or something else!

Thanks in advance

[Rainboe]

Just an air pocket! I have hit some dire turbulence over the Indian Ocean. The ITCZ is quite something to behold. But you have no sense of what is happening in the cabin. I have had cabin crew asking me 'how far did we fall?'. It seems like an anticlimax to have to say 'I'm sorry, but we didn't! The altimeter barely deviated.' They insist we must have fallen thousands of feet. You get the sensation from being thrown upwards in a bump, not downwards. The resulting lower 'g' sensation for several seconds makes you think you are falling down. Throughout, you are probably staying within feet of where you should be. I don't think I have ever seen an altitude discrepancy of more than 100' in the most serious turbulence. I have gone off course 150 miles trying to find a way through the monsoon over the Andaman Sea

[Load Toad]

The pilot did recover it though

Good job that - it would have been a bugger of a job to start this thread if he hadn't.

[Glamgirl]

I just wanted to point out that contrary to popular belief - air pockets don't actually exist. It was turbulence. As humans are built to walk/look forward, we can get disorientated when windows are on the right, or no outside view at all. We also has a built-in instinct to protect us from falling, and that's why we feel a "falling" sensation more than going up.

HTH

Gg

[HeathrowAirport]

Good job that - it would have been a bugger of a job to start this thread if he hadn't.

That Sarcasm? Lool.

[L'aviateur]

No HeathrowAirport, I'm sure he was being completely serious. :ugh:

[RingwaySam]

There was a good post a while back from a Pilot who hit a Microburst going into Lagos I think. It's definitely something I want to avoid in my lifetime! :eek:

http://www.pprune.org/safety-crm-qa-emergency-response-planning/289452-fright-my-life.html

[Browners]

Thanks all for the replies. I guess it is a lot different sitting in the cockpit than in the cabin. Still a scary experience but one we survived nevertheless. The micoburst into Lagos sounds horrendous, glad we didn't encounter that.