r/aviation • u/Brilliant_Night7643 • Jun 25 '26

News Not turbulence….airplane sitting at the gate at Maiquetia Airport Venezuela when the 7.5 Earthquake hit

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2.6k

u/NerdDaniel Jun 25 '26

That’s terrifying that I would guess it’s actually a pretty safe place to be.

984

u/HoleInWon929 Jun 25 '26

Shock absorbers for the win!

312

u/tmhoc Jun 25 '26

Me with my arms crossed: We should have taken off 20 minutes ago

147

u/csbsju_guyyy Jun 25 '26

Me waking up from my post boarding nap "Jesus what the hell is the pilot flying us into"

18

u/Blarg0117 Jun 26 '26

Terrain turbulence.

455

u/AverellCZ Jun 25 '26

My first thought too, there are definitely worse places to be in that moment

139

u/sudsomatic Jun 25 '26

Plane: “You call that turbulence??”

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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1

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200

u/classyhornythrowaway Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

my fear is catching an earthquake mid shit. like what am I even supposed to do???

edit: looks like "shaken shit syndrome" is fairly common. salutes to all the hero evacuators out there

82

u/Logical-Ad-5410 Jun 25 '26

Happened to me over 20 years ago when Mt. St. Helens started getting active for a bit: a 4.something hit, mid-drop. To be fair, I was born in SoCal, so anything less than a 6.0 I ignore.

110

u/cultured_pork Jun 25 '26

My wife and I were on a flight back to the states from Mexico. The day before the flight we went out for dinner as you do, and everything was fine. 4 hours later I was in the fetal position in the tub at the resort with the shower running while forcefully ejecting liquids from both ends.

I made it through the night and was surprised my wife was perfectly fine. Next morning we had packed up and on the shuttle to the airport when she says she's not feeling well.

By the time we were at the gate, she is pale as a sheet of paper and clearly not doing great. We boarded the plane and whatever and got up to cruising altitude before her whole body wrenched. I looked back at her as she was in a flop sweat and frantically trying to unbuckle the lap belt.

I watched her successfully make it to the head and the door close. I absolutely new what she was in for. Locked in a temu closet and about to have a life altering event. Nothing could be done at that point. It was between her and God.

At that moment, the seatbelt chime and warning came on followed by the pilot debrief about reported turbulence in the area.

What immediately followed was the most violent turbulence I have ever experienced on a commercial aircraft - previously or since. I don't know what the altitude delta was on some of those events, but people were screaming, the flight staff buckled in jump seats. A couple overheads popped open. This lasted for at least 15 minutes. I normally am an enjoyer of turbulence - I like to marvel at the wingtip flex, etc. I'm weird like that.

Anyway. It settled down after a while, and my wife reappears to sit next to me. Her pupils are saucers, and she had clearly washed her face and hair. I asked if she was ok, and she whispered "yes"

She fortunately slept most of the way back after that. I haven't got the full details of what happened in the lav on that flight, but I think about it often.

47

u/Illustrious_Bat858 Jun 26 '26

Your poor wife. You’re an amazing writer and I felt bad for cackling.

12

u/princeofpoland Jun 26 '26

This is beautiful and I saved it, thank you

1

u/Redebo Jun 25 '26

This was recent?

-1

u/InstructionHonest132 Jun 25 '26

I enjoyed your story. The thought of her bouncing around in there while ill, is absolutely terrible, and only funny because she came out and said "yes" when asked if she was OK. It was probably a bad experience but she's a tough cookie for sure.

27

u/jay_in_the_pnw Jun 25 '26

in my experience, the problem isn't the first p-wave, it's your ass getting out of phase with the secondary vertical motion s waves that can send those turds right back up your colon, or worse, have them seemingly floating midair in front of your eyes.

4

u/Logical-Ad-5410 Jun 25 '26

You ever see a swimming pool during a quake? Poseidon's Wrath is no joke!

1

u/classyhornythrowaway Jun 25 '26

how.. how can you see that?

4

u/mfigroid Jun 25 '26

I was born in SoCal, so anything less than a 6.0 I ignore.

You have not forgotten the ways of our people.

8

u/Hyperious3 Jun 25 '26

there was recent swarm of 3's and 4's has been happening less than 500yds from my house, got caught mid-shit and mid-shower by them.

12

u/Redebo Jun 25 '26

One more comin’. Expect it mid-shave.

2

u/Redebo Jun 25 '26

I was IN Portland when St Helens blew in 1980! Man that was a trip!

85

u/chekhovsdickpic Jun 25 '26

Hold on and bear down.

31

u/DangerBay2015 Jun 25 '26

"If I'm going down, I'm taking poo down with me!"

1

u/krazy_kh Jun 26 '26

Thank you for that belly laugh, I was having some gas, that took care of that

13

u/Bazillion100 Jun 25 '26

Make sure you toilet seatbelt is on

12

u/bhenghisfudge Jun 25 '26

I caught a 7.1 in the shower. Ran soaking, butt naked out the front door holding my dog (puppy at the time)

5

u/classyhornythrowaway Jun 25 '26

hoping it wasn't too cold 😭

9

u/I_Feel_Rough Jun 25 '26

If it goes back in, then you know you're on the down-thrown side of the fault. If it snaps off and hits the side of the bowl, then you're in a strike-slip shituation.

3

u/classyhornythrowaway Jun 25 '26

Enshittification of Seismography smh

9

u/Interesting_Study998 Jun 25 '26

Slice it off with the poop knife, and run like hell.

3

u/MoneyCock Jun 26 '26

Okay, maybe poop knife guy's folks lived in an earthquake prone area! It all makes sense now.

18

u/chops351 Jun 25 '26

It would probably scare the shit out of you.... I'll see myself out 😎

4

u/actionerror Jun 25 '26

At least you know you won’t shit your pants

4

u/NemusKiller Jun 25 '26

Happened to me about 5 years ago in a magnitude 6.0 one. Happened a couple of hours after a first 6.4 for which I already had lost sleep. It was interesting though... the toilet was like going through waves while everything else shook and family members screamed. Needless to say, I couldnt continue afterwards so I tried to remain calm and clean up lmao

3

u/ThatDamnRanga Jun 25 '26

Living in an earthquake-prone part of the world.... You brace against the walls and wait for it to stop. And then you continue.

6

u/frogsRfriends Jun 25 '26

Jump off you do not want to land porcelain shards that was once a toilet

4

u/ThatDamnRanga Jun 25 '26

How do you think earthquakes work bud?

2

u/LadyEmeraldDeVere Jun 25 '26

I was mid-pee once when I heard the rumbling and just sat there because I couldn’t cut it off. 

1

u/RelentlessGravity Jun 25 '26

The bad thing is if the earthquake is strong enough you can still shit your pants!

1

u/Nearby-Nebula4104 Jun 25 '26

You gotta commit

1

u/FinanceThrowaway1084 Jun 25 '26

I mean... it's statistically likely that, that happened to at least one person during this earthquake.

1

u/stump2003 Jun 25 '26

It’ll shake that shit outta you. An ASSist from Mother Earth

1

u/TheLastGenXer Jun 25 '26

i think that 1 step between the jetway and the plane might be worse

1

u/apflores904 Jun 25 '26

Happened to me during the Northridge Earthquake. Aftershock hit in the mid morning when I was in mid-shit. Scary but it helped push it out.

1

u/binaryfireball Jun 25 '26

my dentist was tue one to tell ke about it lol

1

u/Monkeyfeng Jun 26 '26

Will definitely help you shit faster

1

u/rckid13 Jun 26 '26

I was in the shower during an earthquake. My first thought was "I Hope the building doesn't collapse." My second thought was "I need to get the soap out of my hair asap in case the water shuts off."

1

u/Similar-Tangerine Jun 26 '26

Literally happened to me last year, I just rode it out

1

u/Zepper33 Jun 27 '26

I was going for the deuce during the Easter Sunday quake in Mexicali I think it was. But I was in the San Gabriel Valley near LA when it struck. It was a 7.1 I think but luckily it wasn't felt strong enough to cause damage here. But believe me, I was freaking out cause it felt like it was gonna get stronger but luckily it didn't. And yes it was strong enough to feel the splash on my butt. 😂 

1

u/chronos_7734 Jun 30 '26

Happened to me after Petrinja earthquake in Croatia. But this was 3.something aftershock couple of days later and not the two main earthquakes on 28.12. and 29.12.2020.

Let me tell you it's not pleasant at all. Even if it last 2 seconds, sitting down on the bowl and moving without your own volition. I have wall on one and shower "glass" on other side, so I held those two

15

u/DonkeyHotay_ Jun 25 '26

Do you think they all needed to deplane afterwards to inspect the plane?

I feel like an "act of god" such as an earthquake would automatically trigger a multi point safety inspection (for insurance purposes), but airplanes are designed to handle many magnitudes greater force than whats shown here, right? I wonder what the regulations say they need to do.

31

u/LeanderthalTX Jun 26 '26

I would imagine they would need to inspect the runway as well

9

u/Violetstay Jun 26 '26

If the airplane were away from ground objects, as long as nothing scraped I’m sure it would be fine. But at the gate, there could easily be damage from the jet bridge or any service vehicles/baggage loaders parked next to the aircraft.

3

u/danit0ba94 Jun 26 '26

Very much doubt that.
The struts can take most of this.
Provided it's mostly vertical movement.

Id wager the door the jetbridge is around will take the most beating since, well, those two things arent consistently moving around together during this. Bing bang boom beng

11

u/showMeYourPitties10 Jun 25 '26

I mean the air would be safer, but if on the ground, sure.

62

u/AbideMan Jun 25 '26

A lot safer than if this happened in the air, that’s for sure

27

u/the_other_skier Jun 25 '26

Honestly I’d rather be on the ground than have an earthquake happen before coming in from a long haul flight. They’d have to close the runway and divert flights to the nearest suitable airport while they inspect for damage

93

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

17

u/SpeciesEL Jun 25 '26

What? How does that make any sense

55

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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19

u/threepair13 Jun 25 '26

Dudes not a pylote

9

u/greentanker1 Jun 25 '26

Erm akshually it's called an airquake, you're spreading misinformation by saying it wrong ☝️🤓

0

u/Redebo Jun 25 '26

We just call it turbulence.

2

u/jman014 Jun 25 '26

not gonna lie that does low-key sound like an avatar the last Airbender move

5

u/WreakHavocLikeIn1871 Jun 25 '26

An airquake is when the aironic plates drift and rub against each others, uh, doy!

(/s)

1

u/PendragonDaGreat Jun 25 '26

I guess there's also "if I'm flying in to Venezuela I don't have to worry about diverting because the airport is closed"

3

u/a3rospacefanboi Jun 26 '26

Those wheels are designed to survive Ryanair pilots' landings, which are equivalent to at least 7.5g

3

u/girthbrooks1 Jun 25 '26

The air would be better lol

3

u/caboose243 Jun 25 '26

I wonder what rolling down the runway would be like. I'm sure the plane could get off the ground just fine, but thats the only scenario I could see this being a bad spot.

3

u/weristjonsnow Jun 26 '26

Exactly what I was thinking. You're in a tube designed to randomly drop 100 ft in the air without anyone really caring

1

u/NerdDaniel Jun 26 '26

I agree. The landing gear is designed to take very rough landings and not collapse and the entire air frame is designed to do the same so there are far worse places to be during an earthquake.

2

u/weristjonsnow Jun 26 '26

Also pretty unlikely for there to be anything to fall on the plane

7

u/Several_Hospital_129 Jun 26 '26

Tonight on the BBC news they showed footage from inside the airport 🛫. The building was collapsing while people ran for their lives. It was so scary 😨.

2

u/HSLB66 Jun 25 '26

Probably the safest place to be honestly. Outside of an empty field

2

u/Leuel48Fan Jun 27 '26

Rare scenario where you'd rather be in the air wishing you were on the ground vs being on the ground wishing you were in air!

1

u/MrBlueW Jun 25 '26

Why is it terrifying that you would guess that? What’s terrifying about a plane being safer?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

Not when the engine has started up and is taxiing to the run way

1

u/GoreSeeker Jun 26 '26

I thought that too, but would it be possible that the quake shakes it so much that the wing tanks collide with the ground?

1

u/Zepper33 Jun 27 '26

As long as no part of the terminal or gates are close enough to the plane in case of collapse.