Never been this scared on a flight before- can you help?
Discussion
We had a great flight up until that point, Eurowings Flight EW464 from Cologne to Heathrow and were approximately 30 mins from landing. Weather was clear, approx 25k feet. No seatbelt signs, everything was smooth- when all of a sudden the plane banked 30 degrees to starboard and at the exact same time dropped 4-500 feet in 5 seconds. It felt like we lost the wing or an engine on that side. We were pulling 1.5G or so at least and people were screaming as we plummeted. I thought it was the end and this is how I die.
The drop felt deliberate- I've flown for 45 years (my dad was a 747 Captain with Singapore Airlines) and this was totally unique.
As we eventually maintained steady flight, the plane banked every-so-slightly back to starboard and we just started drifting. Almost like we were not being flown at all anymore and the Airbus 319 was ungoverned. Drifting. spoliers on the port side slightly raised as we did so.
The seatbelt sign didn't come on, there were people hyperventilating and sobbing but I was wondering if this was just the start (see Germanwings flight from 2015), The pilots said nothing. Not even when we landed- nothing. Sinister and eerie.
Deliberate? Severe turbulence? Other?
Even leaving/ taxxing out of Cologne, the pilot was going quickly, even rolling onto the runway at 50 knots or so before throttling up to take off
The drop felt deliberate- I've flown for 45 years (my dad was a 747 Captain with Singapore Airlines) and this was totally unique.
As we eventually maintained steady flight, the plane banked every-so-slightly back to starboard and we just started drifting. Almost like we were not being flown at all anymore and the Airbus 319 was ungoverned. Drifting. spoliers on the port side slightly raised as we did so.
The seatbelt sign didn't come on, there were people hyperventilating and sobbing but I was wondering if this was just the start (see Germanwings flight from 2015), The pilots said nothing. Not even when we landed- nothing. Sinister and eerie.
Deliberate? Severe turbulence? Other?
Even leaving/ taxxing out of Cologne, the pilot was going quickly, even rolling onto the runway at 50 knots or so before throttling up to take off
Edited by TopTrump on Saturday 23 August 16:20
This one? Doesn't seem visible in the ADS-B data.
https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
768 said:
This one? Doesn't seem visible in the ADS-B data.
https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
That's the onehttps://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
768 said:
This one? Doesn't seem visible in the ADS-B data.
https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
Don't know if there's a better dataset but you can see something happened at 13.20, the descent is interrupted and the aircraft climbs before continuing to descend again. Airspeed briefly increases too which is a glitch in the overall trend. https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/EWG464/hist...
Looks like an autopilot descent up to that point as the plot is so straight, after that the profile is different for 5 or 6 minutes.
OP, what "help" are you after? Sounds like you hit some turbulence and that triggered some understandable hysteria amongst the passengers and fired up your imagination. Could have been the wake of an aircraft ahead of you, could have been clear air turbulence, who knows? (no one on this thread).
Sheepshanks said:
It did make a left turn over the North Sea about 30 mins out which is out of line with that flight’s usual track.
I’d say the pilots forgot where they going and had an “oh s
t” moment.
Surely though they could do the course correction gradually and with little to no height correctionI’d say the pilots forgot where they going and had an “oh s

ATG said:
OP, what "help" are you after? Sounds like you hit some turbulence and that triggered some understandable hysteria amongst the passengers and fired up your imagination. Could have been the wake of an aircraft ahead of you, could have been clear air turbulence, who knows? (no one on this thread).
Closure/ understanding I think. I am not able to really understand teh flight data or anything and my hope was a pilot or expert could offer some interpretation of events.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff