A traveler captured the tense moment aboard plane as the crew told passengers to brace for impact

Alex Thomas, January 18, 2018 11:39 am

Some American Airlines passengers might have thought they were looking at the end on Wednesday when they were told to “brace for impact” as the plane they were on made an emergency landing. And most of the terrifying incident was caught on video.

The plane was traveling from Phoenix and was forced to make an emergency stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Passenger Steve Ramsthel, who recorded the tense moments, told KNXV that he could smell smoke coming from the cockpit. He recalled, “There were some people crossing themselves, but I thought the adrenaline was pretty high, and everybody just cooperated. It was pretty amazing.” Ramsthel added that the crew handled the scary situation very well.

In the video, which Ramsthel posted to Facebook, the pilot calmly gives directions, telling passengers to fasten their seat belts and to “be seated in a brace position for landing.” He explains the position, saying, “Place your feet flat on the floor, cross your wrists and hold onto the seat-back in front of you,” before a few moments of silence.

Eventually, one of the flight attendants yells “Brace!” as the plane begins shaking, and Ramsthel buries his face in the back of the seat. Thankfully, the flight ended uneventfully, with one of the pilots telling passengers to remain seated as the crew inspects the cockpit.

A representative for American Airlines told Fox that a broken fan was the source of the problem.

2017 was the safest year in history for passengers aboard commercial airlines, with no fatalities, per The Washington Post. And that’s quite a feat when you consider that there were almost 37 million flights last year.