A Royal (dis)HHonor: Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

Woah Lucky,

Reading your post I first thought you had lost it, but it is the comments from the flight attendants at the end of the post that really got to me.

Looks like you had a memorable experience (!). Well, at least you will remember it in 50 years.

Glad you made it. Don't stop what you are doing. Truth is, anyone of us can go to bed and never wake up again. Have a glass (or more) of good wine and enjoy the fact you are alive, healthy, and very Lucky to have this life.

Cheers.

The phase will pass. Thanks for sharing.

Lucky, I'm sorry you had such a terrible experience - I can't imagine what it was like. Thanks for sharing further about the flight and how you have been doing.

sorry that it still feels this unsettling! my second flight ever was on royal jordanian. glad it was not like this once, because it would have stopped me from ever setting foot on a plane again. the food in coach in 1985 looked better than your food in business in 2013.

come see me in pdx when you come through.

typo: hurt your ears?

@ TH -- Yep, those things! Thanks, fixed.

Yawn.

I'm no expert in this, but it sounds like you're suffering from PTSD from what you certainly perceived (valid or not, it's irrelevant) as a near death experience. I think seeking professional counsel is probably a great idea, and I would continue with that until the "phase" passes. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing the very best for a speedy recovery.

So glad you're ok, Ben. Has anyone from Royal Jordanian contacted you with apologies/explanations?

Ben, I am sorry to hear it is still affecting you so much. I am glad you are seeking out some help though. We were in HKG this past week and took off in a rain storm. I couldn't help but think of you. I do think time will slowly help.

Coins, glad you're still here.

I did notice the El Al 7-4 in your photo. Did you know that EL AL in Hebrew means 'to go up'?

dhammer53

I am generally ignorant of all things Biz/1st Class seats. I flew the RJ A330 from BKK-AMM and then the A340 from AMM-ORD and thought that both of the seats were lie flat, but after looking at their website again I see that they actually weren't. I slept most of the way, so I didn't pay much attention when in full recline.

I didn't want to be too critical of RJ's Biz Class because my only other Biz Class point of reference was CX from ORD-HKG. I didn't have the same service experience that you did, though, with all of the men gabbing and not working. Or, if I did, I didn't notice it. Maybe harder to get away with that when it's a longer flight.

I felt their check-in in Amman was a disaster. I have rarely ever seen such a slow, inefficient check-in as I did for RJ in Amman. Maybe it was a bad day, but i was there a few hours early and practically had to run to the gate.

A great, harrowing read. You've got a new reader in me, so I very much hope you're in this for the long haul.

Be well,
Eric.

Lucky, sorry it was such a bad experience.

I was on CX 879 SFO-HKG arriving about the same time as your flight on the same day. I have to admit it was very rough with a lot of turbulence, probably the worst turbulence I have experienced on a plane.

I was in the cone, row 1, of the 747-400 and I could hear the rain/hail against the nose of the aircraft. The lightning was also fairly frequent.

In my case, one of the pilots made two very calm and confident announcements during the event apologizing for the turbulence. I think this was very helpful for the passengers.

One thing I noticed from the flight map is that they had us circle just south and west of Hong Kong Island and I think that was where the storm was located. Finally, we turned east and things got better, then we did a 180 back west returning into the storm. It's hard to imagine that ATC in HKG would construct a holding pattern where the planes circled in the heart of the storm.

thanks for sharing.

Was about to hit the sack and saw this one. It feels very painful and it was not me on that plane. Commercial flying is safer than any other method of transportation, but never 100% safe. It is good that you are writing your experience, it will help you bring closure to this matter. Like they say, This Too Shall Pass.

Have to say I misjudged this in my original post. I remember thinking you were a bit ridiculous in wanting announcements in your immediate reaction post, but upon reading this fuller account while I don't think announcements during landing were warranted if it would have hampered landing the plane, any decent pilot (even new RJ pilots) should have the common sense and decency to at the VERY LEAST apologize once landed.

Also - they should have notified that weather landing in Hong Kong would be choppy so you at least aren't as seriously questioning the knowledge and abilities of the pilots.

I recently had a flight to Austin that was diverted to Dallas due to weather sitting over Austin (main reason probably being they actually briefly closed the airport)... and while I was annoyed at the time for the 3 hour detour (including refueling, sitting, and flying back) after the fact I'm always grateful for pilots and air traffic control folks that err on the side of caution. What a mess of a situation in HK!

black rain in Hong Kong, glad you made it. bad on the ground, can't imagine in the air. I'm surprised they don't route you to another airport as during typhoons.

Ben...I'm glad you shared this with us. I think what you're experiencing is very normal in traumatic circumstances (I was very close on 9/11, heard the first plane, went outside and will never look at the world in the same way). But while you shouldn't ignore what you experienced, I don't think it stop you. Will it make you more cautious? Yes, perhaps only temporarily. And thinking of your brother must have added a layer of extreme anxiety to a frightening situation. Very sad for your family-that must be very hard to deal with. You, Lucky, will be ok. But it will take time so don't push yourself. And remember you have a lot of fans out here cheering you on

I think you are being too dramatic. I flew SQ 872 on the same day, which arrives at about the same time and had a similar experience with turbulence. It was rather bad but certainly not the worst I've experienced around the South China sea area. I fly over the South China sea 4-6 times a month and this happens about once a year or so at HKG, SZX, HAN, CAN, HAK, etc

I experienced worse turbulence departing HKG on SQ 863 on May 16th than on March 30th.

What a flight. Can't imagine. I too fly a bit and back in the day was a student pilot. I totally understand where you're coming from when you say you're not scared of flying but it's the lack of control. That crew gave no indication as to how things were being handled. I know in the thick if it that communication would be inappropriate but geez they should have said something before and after the red cell.
Unless I've missed it, I don't recall you mentioning much about how your friend perceived the flight through the cell. Was the individual more or less scared or in line with your experience?
I knew this post was coming up and thought of it on my CX flight between HKG and BKK last week. Was hoping it wouldn't come out before then as I was worried it would freak me out.

I had a similar, but not as scary experience flying Avianca Domestic Cartagena - Bogota; landing Bogota in the middle of a thunderstorm in an old MD-80 in 2006. Not a word was spoken from the flight deck and I don't even recall the safety announcements at the start were even given in English. Was a relief to get on the ground.

The feeling goes but I'll always remember seeing that lightening off the wing, and worrying about that AA flight (at the time) that crashed into the Mountains surrounding Bogota in the 1980's

Would have been interesting to see FlightAware data for this flight. Unfortunately for whatever reason, the tracking seems to have stopped once the aircraft left Thai airspace.

I don't see how someone like MT above can post that you are "being too dramatic". How would he/she possibly know exactly how turbulent your flight was and how he/she "experienced worse turbulence"? Dumb.

As a person who is irrationally afraid of turbulence, I have often thought about pulling out my passport to put into my underwear, all the while knowing that all my clothes would surely not be found anywhere near me, if at all, in a plane crash. We do what we can to feel in control. I probably would have been furiously writing notes to my kids and sticking them in the zippered seat cushions or something else just as useless.
I don't doubt for a minute that you need time to recover, and I am certain you will because you got on a plane very shortly thereafter and were able to do it. Sometimes a little Ativan helps, too!

Ben,

As a long time flyer, and supporter of you here on the blog and FT, I wish you the best. You are certainly an inspiration for many of us, and I am very grateful for your advice and trip reports over the years. Know that you have an extended family that is more than willing to help should you feel the need...if anybody "gets it," surely we do. After having several go-arounds and diversions myself, I am glad that you made it safely. As somebody who is based in ASE, I can certainly relate to the feeling of helplessness in dicey weather conditions. Thankfully, both you and I are still here -- proving how safe air transportation truly is!

@lucky I recall that when you first posted about this, a reader commented that due to Jordanian regulation, the pilots have no leeway in choosing to get out of such a mess if they are ordered to hover there, which might explain why people who landed at HKG the same day had bad but not dreadful experiences.

Did you find out more about how this works? I'd be very interested to learn whether on some airlines pilots are allowed less initiative so that such things might happen.

I had a similar experience on a creaky old Air Rwanda plane trying to land in a storm at EBB. The problem is the pilots deliberately flew into a storm. In my case they knew this and told us just before take off. I wouldn't have minded a good delay to let the storm pass over the airport.

I think in both our cases, the pilots made a decision that was not rushed and that could have been thought over a bit more carefully. Delays and re-routings cost a lot of money, but not as much as a crash costs.

I wonder in your case if they hadn't loaded enough fuel for the tag route to HKG? So their only decision was to Rambo it in to HKG or divert?

Lucky, sorry to read about the awful flight. Goes to show that these planes are safe, even when flown by a team in which you may not have confidence. That's the thing to remember... it was a terrible storm, but you landed safely. I remember landing in a storm in Auckland and another in Miami, and in both instances I had to hold on to the under-side of my seat in business class, to anchor myself down. I felt like my head was going to hit the ceiling, it was so bumpy. Freaked me out for a while, but I still fly and I don't get nervous anymore. Hang in there - the fear and stress will pass.

@UAPremierGuy said it perfectly: you do have an extended family that is here to help and is grateful for what you do -- and more importantly -- who you are. It may be the best part of the internet that our humanity and compassion come through in these online "relationships", and it is a testament to you that this support system has grown so naturally out of how warmly you share your self. As others have said, it might indeed be PTSD, and there is no need for anyone to judge...our experiences are our own and needn't be belittled by those who weren't there and don't have the empathy to realize that we all experience things in individual ways, and that whatever we feel is legitimate. Let us know if we can be of assistance.

Keep calm and carry on. 🙂

To answer your question about the call button going off about every 10 seconds or so, it sounds like a fault in the lav smoke detector. Whenever the detector is set off, instead of a loud and possibly frightening buzz/alarm sound in the cabin, the standard "ding" sounds about every 10 seconds until the fault is cleared. However, and why this is the case I'm not sure, if there is a fault in the system, it can only be reset on the ground. To my knowledge, and this may have changed since, but there isn't a way to override the alarm in the air and you have to suffer through it until maintenance on the ground resets the system and clears the fault. Seeing that the flight attendants and pilots weren't exactly forthcoming with information, it doesn't surprise me that they didn't come on the PA and explain why you would be hearing that for the duration of the flight.

@ Lisa S, I am not suggesting I experienced what Lucky. However, the flight I took is scheduled to arrive about 10 mins prior to the one Lucky was on so we likely had the same or similar path for landing. I recall some delay but its been a while so unsure how long. And I have no idea whether Lucky landed first or I did but I suspect we were within 10-15 mins of each other if the departures were on time.

No, Ben, I do not think you are crazy. That said, with the claimed 2.5 million miles under your belt - and some limited piloting experience as well, you ought to know that Stuff Happens. O don't know why the flight crew did not make any announcements, but maybe they were Busy - the A330 has only two... As for the do-nothing 'male' FAs, do you know that they were working staff and not just filling non-rev jump-seats? (FIVE FAs for a smallish business class cabin seems a bit much - don't you think?) While I'm sorry to hear that yo had a rough flight and a few minutes of truly rough air, with so much experience I guess you're a bit overdue. And a simple question: Before this unpleasant event, were you one to keep your seat belt ON, at least most of the time? If not, I'll bet you are now! If it matters, I keep mine on unless there is some specific reason to remove it. In the end, I'm sorry that you had an unpleasant experience, but direct your anger toward the weather, not Royal Jordanian. Stuff happens - and you ought to know that. Regards,

@lucky - my cousin survived SQ006 back in 2000. There are some news articles where he is interviewed. He was a frequent TPAC traveler, being based in LA. After his flight back to LA, he didn't step foot on another plane for about 18 months. Even then, his first flight was really tense, but got through it thanks to an in-flight nintendo system (or something) in business class.

@MT - although you may have been flying at a similar time through similar conditions, you should know as well as anyone else that pilot ability, specific routing, and timing differences can have a huge effect on the ride. Also, given the FA and pilot reactions once they were on the ground, it does seem Ben's flight was a bit worse than usual bad turbulence.

That flight sounds far worse than any I've ever been on, and I can't imagine how tough it would be to get on the next flight after that.

I'm curious to know how you knew the plane was in such a nose high pitch if you couldn't see the horizon (or even the wings) through the clouds. Is that just an assumption based on how it felt at the time?

Thanks for all the supper, guys!

@ Tom -- Nope, haven't heard from them or reached out to them, not that I think it would get me anywhere either.

@ Andy -- Great to hear from someone else flying that day, and happy to hear your pilots were more calming.

I'd say it is a phase. I went through a similar situation flying from Kansas City to LAX years back. We got out of KC just before they closed the airport due to a tornado warning. This was after spending the last two weeks in SE Missouri dodging tornadoes.

We spent two hours bouncing around like a pinball. Granted, this WN pilot kept us updated and we all knew it would be bad, but not nearly as bad as it was. After that I spent 4 years with sever flying anxiety. It look about 100,000 flying miles and numerous trip and MR's to get it out of me. The good part: it does go away. The bad: it does take some time.

@ MT -- Respectfully I don't think it's safe to assume the conditions were the same just because the arrival times were simile. All other factors -- pilot communication, pilot "skills," routes, negotiations with ATC, etc. -- could very well have differed. Happy to hear you had a somewhat better experience, though.

@ Foivos -- It's not a specific policy, per se, but I think CJ outlined the essence of it pretty well in the quote I have of him here:
https://onemileatatime.com/reflecting-on-my-royal-jordanian-flight-a-few-days-later/

The idea is that many airlines encourage pilots to be "safe rather than sorry," so to speak, and there are no repercussions if they choose to divert, do a go around, etc., even if it costs the airlines more money.

Then there are other airlines where if a pilot "screws up" (which to the airline could mean wasting money on a diversion or whatever), they could face punishment.

Hopefully that makes sense.

@ Stimpy -- Truthfully fuel was one of my biggest concerns as well, and the Avianca crash in NY was on my mind almost the whole time. While US airlines are almost overly cautious about loading extra fuel, I wondered just how much extra fuel Royal Jordanian factored in for the flight. After all, if the pilots couldn't let us know in advance that we'd be experiencing bad weather, I have to wonder how much planning they had done.

@ UAPremierGuy @ Tom (and almost everyone else) -- I love you guys! Thanks so much, really means the world to me.

@ Cook -- They were definitely all on duty. They made announcements. I think the reason they stayed in the galley is because coach was fairly empty as well, so I'm guessing they "delegated" that work and decided to take time off. Saw a few more Thai flight attendants in coach, so I'm fairly certain they decided to just kick back and relax.

@ Robert -- Ultimately I couldn't see the horizon, but I think you can tell pretty easily over time what the pitch attitude is. We definitely weren't "leveled," and based on the huge variation in pitch I'm lead to believe we were trying to maintain altitude vs. climb.

Thanks for sharing and glad you're okay!

Lucky, I'm not afraid to fly, in fact, I LOVE to fly and try to fly is often as I possible can - though I'll never fly like you and most of your readers. My only issue with flying is the turbulence.

I just don't understand the physics enough at play to know what is normal and what is not.

Even light chop from heat rising off the afternoon earth makes me invision the plane crashing.

I've been on a flight with moderate-to-severe turbulace on decent to ATL years ago. Thankfully the pilot came on and advised us that we would be experiencing turbulance that most had likely not been through ever and told us it would begin in 15 mins....and on Q, it did just that.

What are the limits to these planes? How do I get to finally just enjoy the flight and not give a 2nd thought to chop and light turbulence?

I want to be like the rest of the seasoned passengers who don't even realize the plane is moving.

Why can I drive down a bumpy road, but freak out (internally) at a bump in the road 30K in the air?

Is it a control issue I need to let go of?

I for one will be happy to forego your experiences on small, insignificant airlines that I would probably never fly!

Wow Lucky, I experienced something very similar to this once on an ascent out of MSP. For a brief moment the pilot lost control of the plane and I was ready to blow my brains out because it couldnt get any worse. To this day I travel at least 50K miles per year but Ive never been able to get over that. PTSD. Its the worst.

Wow. I just read this article this morning and agree UAPremierGuy said it best! As what others say, learn from the past, LIVE today, and hope for tomorrow! Enjoy Budapest!

Lucky, as someone was in a nasty car crash (and by nasty, I mean one of the other passengers didn't survive), all I can say is...get help or get over it. Not trying to be mean here, not saying you are being dramatic...but it could have been much worse.

With regards to Royal Jordanian pre-bad weather, Lucky's review seems to be accurate to other TRs out there. Decent seating, slightly better than average food, average to horrible FA service.

Lucky, your experience is even scarier w/ your description that the nose was up and the engines continually spooling and then idling. Like you, I would've feared a stall, a la AF447 . . .

'all I can say is…get help or get over it. Not trying to be mean here'

He IS trying to get over it. Writing about it on his blog (among other things) is helping him process it.

@ Lucky-- Thanks for sharing your riveting, heart-felt account. Your followers are all hoping we never get to share the same experience. The only omission from the amenity kit was valium. 😉 Enjoy Budapest and the lovely view of the Danube. It should soothe the soul!

Lucky:
Would you explain further or define the terms "tag" and "fifth "freedom" as used in the first paragraph of your report. I am not familiar with these terms.

Trip sounds awful. I can relate a little. 3 weeks ago was on an AA MD80 that developed smoke in cockpit/cabin within 5 min of takeoff from RIC. It was very scarey (after 5+million flying miles)-most scarey of my flying career. I admit being terrified and said my Act of Contrition (catholic thing). Pilot came on PA saying exactly "smoke in cockpit. Returning to RIC. Listen to flight attendants".

3 min later we landed hard and fast to lots of flashing lights. Eventually safely de-boarded (no chutes) Fab AA CSA team announced that MX was working o fix plane. Check back in an hour. There was NO wAY I would get on that plane or another MD80! I drove to DCA then flew to DFw on a 737. I admit. I am terrified now on MD80s. Sweaty palmed, pounding heart panicked. I've done it a few times but not sure I can do it many times more. It's 10 pm and I'm on a 6:30 departure on an MD80 tomorrow. I can relate to your experience cause I'd do almost anything to not fly tomorrow. Good news is - the hard flight is first then have 2 easy 737/s to get to MGA.

Hope we can both get past our issues. Theres too much to see and do out there. Plus I still haven't flown the 787 yet!!

Safe travels

Glad you are still alive. Hopefully this terrible experience will pass. I agree with your assessment here - this was an awful flight. And extremely unusual. You'll get over the fear. I did.

@ gsorob -- Wikipedia (accurately) defines fifth freedom routes as: "the right to fly between two foreign countries during flights while the flight originates or ends in one's own country." So the "tag" flight in this case is the add on from Bangkok to Hong Kong as part of an Amman to Hong Kong service.

Just for reference, the current reports on this morning's emergency landing at Heathrow Airport (Friday 24 May 2013), the pilots made at least 2 announcements to passengers as the plane was positioned for an emergency landing, with an engine on fire. No excuse for the Royal Jordanian pilots in not making any announcements during a rough landing in HK! They should have said something.

Good g*d, your post has left me weak at the knees. As a highly seasoned traveller and private pilot I would've had a similar reaction. In the past 40 years I've only had two concerning experiences on a flight but they were bad enough that we felt the need to write notes to loved ones and prepare for the worst. I heartily empathise and am glad you're OK!

@Lucky, keep flying. You'll get through this and return to the joy of flying. Talking about it helps. I went through a similar experience in 1991 from TPG to TXG in a small plane with 8 seats in it. When the male flight attendant put his head down between his knees and started praying due to the extreme turbulence, I knew we were in trouble. I had been writing a postcard, and the jagged scribbles read, "If I get out of this alive, I'll kiss the ground in TXG." I did kiss the ground when we landed safely and our faces all white as sheets. I took the train back to TPE. However, I've been flying ever since - prefer the right side of the plane over the wing when not in FC or BC, less bumpy there.

Dear Lucky,

I've only been reading your blog a couple weeks. I stumbled on your post on the best credit card offers for May, and it helped me kick off my new quest for miles. I'd been spoiled for cheap travel for years, as my brother was a Delta Comair pilot, which gave me access to non-revenue standby travel. It was an incredible bargain, allowed me to change my travel plans up to the last minute and frequently provided me a business seat at no extra charge. The trade-off, of course, was that it was standby travel, and finding flights with empty seats for non-revs is its very own game. However, due to the liquidation of Comair my brother has had to move to a new airline, which no longer provides me such benefits. So I've entered the miles game, as I just can't fathom paying "normal" prices to fly. You and others are incredibly generous in your advice. Thanks a lot!

I am certain that your recent experience was as serious and traumatic as you describe. The dismissiveness of some commenters really gets me. I come from a family of very frequent fliers, and I completely believe that you've experienced just about everything before, but this was different. In fact, your experience might have made you even more aware of the danger than a less experienced flier. You very likely have PTSD, and you're right to seek medical help and therapy to get you through it. I'm very sorry your joy in flying has been diminished. But the important thing is that you're alive, that flying remains a very safe way to travel, and that you're not letting go of what you love. It won't ever be the same, but it WILL get better, I promise. Thank you again and take care.

SOB SOB I'm sorry, but I thought you were going to die. That would've been horrible consider I don't read any other travel blogs.
I remember one time I flew Northwest Airlines from Detroit to Salt Lake City in 2008 and we were being thrown around for two and a half hours nonstop. I was crying and my dad was yelling at me and I was screaming and crying even more and this pretty flight attendant was crying and I had a panic attack and I jumped into her lap and we screamed and cried even more and they had to make an emergency stop in some airport in the middle of South Dakota and take me and her to a panic relief hospital where I was trapped for almost a month. Scary, huh?
I'm just glad SOB SOB SOB, that you survived.

Hey man, you already have quite a few comments already, but I'll throw my experience in for what its worth.

I think my early life was actually quite a bit similar to yours- flying since I was in the womb, MP member since age 1, and probably spent more time in the air than on the ground before I turned five. There is just something about flying when you are a very little kid, especially "back in the day," and it affects you for the rest of your life. Makes you love flying in a crazy way that only people that have had that kind of experience can really appreciate.

Anyway, in 2006, I was on an MR on an UA RJ flight from ORD to SBN, a <1hr flight and my first RJ experience. Over Lake Michigan we hit the worst turbulence I've ever experienced- not terribly protracted, but extremely rough, and the fear factor was compounded by the tiny aircraft. At one point the plane dropped several hundred feet in less than 3 seconds; many pax were screaming by that point, and even the two NetJets pilots in front of me were gripping the seats, white- knuckled. I was sweating bullets.

Flying wasn't the same for a while after that; I got sweaty and white-knuckled with the slightest bit of chop, or even the captain announcing a rough patch ahead. Channel 9 on UA became a crutch, and I would listen desperately to be reassured that the pilots were requesting smoother altitude. RJ's, no matter how smooth the flight, were a white-knuckle experience rotation to touchdown. A turboprop meant I needed to take Valium just to board.

I can't say you get over it quickly, because you don't. For me it was a solid couple years before I started to feel like things were getting back to normal. That said, to this day 7 years later, chop on smaller equipment will still make me nervous, and I instinctively try to avoid RJ's where I can (as if more incentive to do that was necessary). I found that the combination of continued exposure, as well as constantly reminding myself during periods of choppy air that turbulence doesn't take planes out of the sky, and for every down draft, there is generally an up to follow generally kept me from the edge of losing it on rougher flights thereafter.

It will take time, but I'm confident you'll get through it. Probably the best consolation I can give is that at no point was it ever enough to get me even thinking about giving up this hobby, and I'm very glad I didn't.

Best of luck, man. Hang in there.

Some really vapid comments by some posters here who seem to think they can tell you what you went through! I'm glad that others get it though. It is very scary when you realize that you have no control over your fate - even more so when you have some knowledge about your circumstances.

I can relate a bit to your story. Once I flew Pittsburgh-Dulles in a 19-seat plane during a snow storm where I had to hold on to the seat in front of me the whole flight.

After that, we took the flight from Dulles to Amsterdam and got hit by lightning.

I was terrified to death in the first flight, the lightning didn't scare me that much. However, two weeks later I went to Barcelona for a weekend. Even though it was the most relaxing flight, with great weather and without any turbulence whatsoever, I was scared. Really really scared. On the flight back it was a bit better already, but it took me a while to get over it.

I'm okay now, it's been quite some years. Still, every plane between 10-50 seats scares me ;). No problem with a 4-seater or an A340, but those mid-small-thingies... nah ;). Still I take them as much as possible, would love to get rid of the last piece of it.

Very well written. Please stop second guessing yourself. You feel, what you feel, it's how the Human brain works. You love flying, and once you have a few more flight under your belt, you will love flying again.

Thank You,
Wm. Drew Bertrand

P.S. Who else do we have that can right these great reviews?!

I too was a happy go lucky frequent flyer until we hit an air pocket over the Rockies on the way to Oregon. I was never the same flyer again. That experience of dropping in that air pocket would not shake itself from my consciousness and I was literally unable to fly until a dr. friend wrote me a scrip for ATIVAN.
With ATIVAN in my system, I have no fear of flying and fly twice a year to Asia no problem. its amazing how a little yellow pill can just focus in on that one part of the brain that's causing all the anxiety. try it, you'll be cured too.

[…] try a RJ J run HKG-BKK or BKK-KUL for the well-priced SCs. This review is pretty scathing though: A Royal (dis)HHonor: Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong - One Mile at a Time - One … Has anyone else had any safety concerns flying RJ? What about smoking or the cleanliness of […]

Now this happened, will I be able to lull you into taking a 787 on the same airline on the same route in September this year?

@ Hong Kong Airline News -- Hah, I might just do that!

Lucky and others, the issue for both pilots and ATC is that not only is ATC trying to keep you away from weather, but from other aircraft as well. This is the reason for so many flow control restrictions in US airspace, as the FAA decides to reduce the number of planes needing to transit areas with heavy storms at a particular time. By holding planes on the ground, they reduce the number of planes needing to hold in the air, possibly encountering weather because there is nowhere else to go.

JUST FYI --- those Jordanian men in the brown suits weren't stewards.

All Royal Jordanian planes have security - ie air marshals - on board in case of hijacking.

It has been that way long before 9/11 - given's Jordan's experience with PLO hijackers in the past 40 years .....

Lucky,

Just read this old post and was wondering how flying has been for you for the past 16 months or so since this obviously harrowing flight?

I am a huge fan of your blog, love to fly (especially in the pointy end!) but still get freaked out even with moderate chop. I'm so sorry for your experience and more sorry for some of the ignorant and insensitive comments posted here.

I really would love to hear how you've been making out and where the "phase" is at now? An update to this story would also go a long way to those of us who love flying but have an irrational (or rational?) fear of turbulence or who have had similarly harrowing flights themselves.

Thanks Lucky and thanks once again for the best damn travel/points blog there is bar none!

Rob

@ Rob -- Thanks for the kind words! Here's an update on the situation:
https://onemileatatime.com/im-completely-fear-flying/

"we heard the lightning and how loud it was." ... I think you mean thunder lol. And you kind of made it seem like it was RJ's fault. They cant control the weather.

Think of those who perished in Air Asia and be thankful the pilot landed you safely. i have no doubt is was terrifying but your post came off as a mega drama queen.

Recently flew RJ HKG - AMM - LHR return business class on their new 787 dreamliner, I had a lovely experience both ways and the price is unbeatable. Reading this post I can't help but feel that your review is unduly harsh on the RJ for something that is out of their control i.e. turbulence. Landings in HKG are often difficult due to bad weather systems in the area, the pilots got you there safely and who knows what the conditions they were dealing with were like, as far as I am aware their pilots are highly trained and RJ is generally highly rated for safety so your review comes off as being slightly overdramatic to be honest.

Man, sounds like it was a pretty rough flight.

I still remember the flight that I was on a couple years back. I forget the flight number, but it was in a US Airways A319. We were en route Phoenix to Cancun and we hit an area of really bad turbulence. The pilots decided to make a rapid descent, but we had no idea. We suddenly felt the plane head into a nosedive, followed by the engines idling, although it sounded more like an engine failure. This was the scariest moment of my life as we dropped at least 5,000 feet within those 15 seconds. I hope you have recovered from your experience and continue flying.

I read a lot of your posts and decided to respond due to the keyboard warriors thinking they're all macho without going through anything similar. First off , you're not a drama queen or whatever other insults these anonymous people want to label you. You're a brave person not only for not ripping these pilots heads off at deboarding but also for sharing your personal experience with the community. Even though some of the community are d bags , the majority of us feel for you.

Personally I love the blog. I only started reading in middle of 2015 and working my way backwards and I ended up at this spot. Not many of us get to fly anything except coach so it's great to hear unbiased opinion on airlines if I were to decide to splurge on a flight.

Sorry for the rant. It's bed time and these rude people commenting really got to me. Nobody knows the situation you were in except you and the other passengers and even then it's your personal experience. Because some people don't care about flying in a lightning storm doesn't mean that other people wouldn't be affected by it. I know this is old and you've done dozens of excellent trip reports after this one , but I really hope you're doing great. Keep up the good work and if you ever need to talk or vent , you have a friend in me.

Thanks again

just a point on the 29 hr long Holy Quran length - the length is there just as a statistic. In general, the Quran is listened to on a per chapter basis (114 chapters of varied lengths in total). In essence, one would pick and choose the reciter and perhaps listen to a few chapters and move onto the next reciter and so on.

Aw bud. I know this is old but your article made me feel sad for you. Also grateful you made it.