My Essay

I Survived a Plane Crash


We were almost home. My dad, my sister and I had been traveling for the past thirty-five hours, and now we were almost there! Traveling from Kula Lumpur, Malaysia to the other side of the world- Greenville, Mississippi to be exact- was no easy task, but definitely worth it in the end. We had been off and on four different planes and had three different layovers, but now we were just one easy landing and an hour’s drive away from our final destination. We were on a small plane; one of those domestic flights that goes from large international airports to more small scale places. I looked to my right where my dad was still fast asleep despite all the flight crew’s loud announcements and all the landing notices. I looked to my left and saw my little sister Amy gazing out the window at the disappearing clouds and the buildings that were getting bigger by the second. I leaned over Amy’s shoulder to get a better view. The seatbelt sign chimed and lit up, and you could really feel the plane declining. I’d flown on this flight many times before so I knew that we would be safely on the Mississippi Delta’s fertile soil in less than ten minutes. With this comforting realization in mind I closed my eyes, rested my head lightly on the back of seat and waited.

About a minuet passed and then suddenly I heard the loudest, most awful, and down-right-scary noise that I have ever heard in my life. There was a massive THUDDING; then a giant BOOM! And then there was silence- total silence. For about eight seconds there was no sound at all. There were no announcements, no passengers chattering, and worst of all- no sound coming from the engines.



After the silence came total chaos. People started yelling, kids started to cry, and everyone was acting as if making noise would somehow restart the engines. I looked out of the window to try and figure out what was going on but I couldn’t really tell what I was seeing. It looked like a giant cloud that wasn’t quite as white as it should have been. Just as I was turning toward my dad for an explanation an announcement began. “Ladies and gentlemen of flight 423, this is your pilot speaking. As you may have noticed our engines have stopped. It appears that we have flown through a flock of ducks.” (Well, that explained the whitish-brown haze that I had seen.) “I ask that you all please remain calm. We are expected to arrive at our destination in a matter of minutes. If you all will all just stay seated and fasten your seatbelts we will make an emergency landing by attempting to glide onto the airport’s runway. Flight attendants please make your way to your seats as well. Once again ladies and gentlemen, remain calm and brace yourselves.”

Reality and terror suddenly sank in. What did that mean? Were we going to crash? How bad was it? I had a ton of questions and my mind was running 1000 miles per hour. By this point the cabin was quiet. It wasn’t silent lie before but it was quiet. Family members were whispering to one another and everyone was trying to be comforting and reassuring.

Amy grabbed my hand and my dad looked at the two of us. He said that we didn’t need to worry because God was on our side. After that we said a quick prayer that was filled with hope and anticipation. We were now approaching the runway; the moment of truth! Everyone held their breath.



Yes!! We were stable and on the ground. A sigh of relief swept over everyone but before it had fully set in a new realization came. We were going too fast! Everyone turned toward the windows. The trees and fields surrounding the runway looked like a never-ending and unbreakable wall of green. The runway was getting shorter and shorter but the airplane was showing no signs of slowing. A look of understanding swept over Amy’s face, and then she said, “Look, you guys! The flaps on the wings aren’t going up!”


It all happened so quickly. All I really remember is going way too fast, being really scared, and hearing an odd screeching sound. The plane spun, swerved, and skidded. All of the overhead baggage fell out.


The next sight that I remember seeing was the clear blue sky above me. I heard my dad calling me so I quickly sat up. My head hurt and there was a sharp pain in my wrist but I didn’t really care. I saw my dad limping towards me with Amy right behind him. I stood up and glanced around at the scene surrounding me. There were people all over the grass. They were all slowly beginning to rise. Huge metal chunks were everywhere. In the distance I saw flashing lights. Ambulances and fire trucks soon surrounded the crash sight. We were urged to move away from the scene as swiftly as possible. After everyone was cleared away we each went under an examination. As it turned out, the worst injuries of all the people onboard were those of the captain. He had a concussion and two broken legs. No one was killed but it is still the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.


Later on, after everything had been taken care of, I asked my dad why there had been no fire like there usually is when a plane goes into pieces and how could everyone have been so unharmed after a crash. He said, “Because God was on our side, Honey. That’s why.”



By: Ashley Walker