re: Flight from Los Angeles sent into nosedive for 10 seconds after hitting vortex

Unfortunately this is a common occurance with occasional deadly consequences

I remember the 2001 crash happening and causing a lot of concern because it was on the heels of 9/11

Incidents involving wake turbulence


XB-70 62-0207 following the midair collision on 8 June 1966.
8 June 1966 – an XB-70 collided with an F-104. Though the true cause of the collision is unknown, it is believed that due to the XB-70 being designed to have an enhanced wake turbulence to increase lift, the F-104 moved too close, therefore getting caught in the vortex and colliding with the wing (see main article).

30 May 1972 – A DC-9 crashed at the Greater Southwest International Airport while performing "touch and go" landings behind a DC-10. This crash prompted the FAA to create new rules for minimum following separation from "heavy" aircraft.

16 Jan 1987 – A Yakovlev Yak-40 crashed just after take-off in Tashkent. The flight took off just one minute fifteen seconds after an Ilyushin Il-76, thus encountering its wake vortex. The Yakovlev Yak-40 then banked sharply to the right, struck the ground, and caught fire. All 9 people on board Aeroflot Flight 505 died.[23]

15 December 1993 – a chartered aircraft with five people on board, including In-N-Out Burger's president, Rich Snyder, crashed several miles before John Wayne Airport. The aircraft was following a Boeing 757 for landing, became caught in its wake turbulence, rolled into a deep descent and crashed. As a result of this and other incidents involving aircraft following behind a Boeing 757, the FAA now employs the separation rules of heavy aircraft for the Boeing 757.

8 September 1994 – USAir Flight 427 crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This accident was believed to involve wake turbulence, though the primary cause was a defective rudder control component.

20 September 1999 – A JAS 39A Gripen from Airwing F 7 Såtenäs crashed into Lake Vänern in Sweden during an air combat maneuvering exercise. After passing through the wake vortex of the other aircraft, the Gripen abruptly changed course, and pilot Capt. Rickard Mattsson, got a highest-severity warning from the ground-collision warning system. He ejected from the aircraft, and landed safely by parachute in the lake.

12 November 2001 – American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, New York shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. The accident was attributed to pilot error in the presence of wake turbulence from a Boeing 747 that resulted in rudder failure and subsequent separation of the vertical stabilizer.

8 July 2008 – A US Air Force PC-12 trainer crashed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., because the pilot tried to land too closely behind a larger AC-130U Spooky gunship and got caught in the gunship’s wake turbulence. Air Force rules require at least a two-minute separation between slow-moving heavy planes like the AC-130U and small, light planes, but the PC-12 trailed the gunship by about 40 seconds. As the PC-12 hit the wake turbulence, it suddenly rolled to the left and began to turn upside down. The instructor pilot stopped the roll, but before he could get the plane upright, the left wing struck the ground, sending the plane skidding 669 feet across a field before stopping on a paved overrun.[24]

3 November 2008 – Wake turbulence of an Airbus A380-800 causing temporary loss of control to a Saab 340 on approach to a parallel runway during high crosswind conditions.[25]

4 November 2008 – In the infamous 2008 Mexico City plane crash, a LearJet 45 XC-VMC carrying Mexican Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño, crashed near Paseo de la Reforma Avenue before turning for final approach to runway 05R at Mexico City International Airport. The airplane was flying behind a 767-300 and above a heavy helicopter. The pilots were not told about the type of plane that was approaching before them, nor did they reduce to minimum approach speed.[citation needed] (This has been confirmed as the official stance by the Mexican Government as stated by Luiz Tellez, the Secretary of Communications of Mexico.)[citation needed]

On 9 September 2012, a Robin DR 400 crashed after rolling 90 degrees in a wake turbulence induced by the preceding Antonov AN-2, three killed, one severely injured.[26][27]

On 28 March 2014, Indian Air Force C-130J-30 KC-3803 crashed near Gwalior, India, killing all 5 personnel aboard.[28][29][30] The aircraft was conducting low level penetration training by flying at around 300 ft when it ran into wake turbulence from another aircraft in the formation, which caused it to crash.[31]

On 7 January 2017, a private Bombardier Challenger 604 rolled three times in midair and dropped 10,000 feet after encountering wake turbulence when it passed 1,000 feet under an Airbus A380 over the Arabian Sea. Several passengers were injured, one seriously. Due to the G-forces experienced, the plane was damaged beyond repair and was consequently written off.[32]

Something similar happened to me coming out of Denver. Scared the shite out of everyone. It was Southwest and the pilots had to make a corrective manuver to avoid a crash. They said they would report it to the FAA because it was a control mistake. It was right after a take off. My heart pounded for an hour.

We did a nosedive for about 3 seconds which felt like an eternity.

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bet that was an awfully long 10 seconds !

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that's what she said

I got a glimpse of what its like before a crash. There were horrifying screams and yells. Not like anything you hear normally.

Most people, in general, have no idea what they are talking about.

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“It was an absolute sense of losing your stomach and that we were nosediving. The lady sitting next to me and I screamed and held hands and just waited but thought with absolute certainty that we were going to crash. It was terrifying.”

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I doubt it was an actual nosedive. There were no injuries. 2 hours into the flight passengers and crew would have been up and about, and a nosedive would have sent them plummeting down the aisles.

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I'd like to know what the total booze sales were by the end of that flight

It could have been you

I think my panic level would be 10. I'm not a good turbulence passenger at all. Big bumps make me grab for the overhead phantom oh shite handle regularly.