Passenger’s harrowing tale of turbulence on Seattle-bound flight

Lynnwood resident Joe Justice flies multiple times a week for work. He says that he’s on the way to “being a Delta Million Miler.” Still, he’s never had a turbulence experience like he did en route to Seattle on Wednesday.

This time, it was not business travel, but a family getaway to Disneyland, that took Justice, his wife, mother-in-law, and two young children up to cruising altitude.

Crazy turbulence and injuries, but the @delta crew handled it perfectly, even the emergency landing. pic.twitter.com/NoJWLp5GUv

— joe justice (@JoeJustice0) February 13, 2019

The five were returning from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Sea-Tac Airport on Compass Airlines Flight 5763, operated by Delta, when “the unthinkable happened and the place started to thrash around,” Justice told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

He said that it felt like the plane took a nosedive because passengers were pushed against their seats and then up above the seats.

“The flight attendant, the beverage cart, hit the ceiling,” he described.

Then the flight attendant and the cart bounced and hit the ceiling again. The flight attendant sustained injuries, and hot coffee sprayed over all of the passengers.

“It looked like the inside of a car during a car crash,” Justice said. “Things were flying around. We were airborne — we were aerial inside the cabin.”

The moments of terror were a blur, but Justice, his family members, and fellow passengers prepared for the worst, having no idea what was about to happen.

“During [the turbulence, there was] screaming,” he said. “And I think a lot of people thought we were going to die. And right afterwards, it was silence.”

After that, crying began, as children began reacting to injuries.

It was this scene that Justice captured in the above Twitter video.

Justice gave a shout-out to the flight crew, who immediately began climbing across the debris to take care of injured passengers.

“I’d like to congratulate them, the Compass Airlines flight crew … they straddled the aisle with both hands on the overhead bins, kind of spider-walked through the cabin, checking who was injured, who was not,” he said. “And they did it smiling — they were even more professional than at the beginning of the flight, when they were quite professional.”

It’s all the more astounding, he said, because one of the flight attendants was among the people injured.

“Because of [the flight attendants’ actions], the tone of the cabin changed to, ‘How are we going to help each other?'” Justice said, adding that it “really changed the mood, and we pitched in together.”

Though they had to keep their seat belts on, passengers moved debris with their feet to clear the way for emergency personnel, and passed needed items to one another. One person in Justice’s video clip can be seen reaching a hand to comfort the passenger sitting directly across the aisle.

“People really supported each other and came forward,” he said.

And throughout this whole time, although the worst had passed, some turbulence — and a whole lot of uncertainty — still continued until landing.

More photos of the insane turbulence on DL5796 today, operates by @Compassairlines . My deep gratitude and professional respect for the flight crew. I mis-attributed my congratulations to @Delta, who very well may also be awesome, but this heroism was @Compassairlines crew. pic.twitter.com/kzXAQvFR3V

— joe justice (@JoeJustice0) February 14, 2019

Luckily, the plane was diverted to Reno, where it landed safely. Passengers were put on a later flight to Seattle, and no one received serious injuries.

Still, the experience has Justice and his fellow passengers shaken up. He joked that he is still working his way toward the Million Mile Club, but “will more carefully look at train options in the future” and eagerly awaits the hyperloop.

“For now, I’ll get back on that aluminum or composite horse, and we’ll ride the skies,” he said. “But I’ll hold my breath a little bit more every time, and I’ll hope, and I’ll have great life insurance.”

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