The last thing anyone wants to experience on a flight is heavy turbulence. In an ideal flight scenario, you’d find your seat, gently buckle your seatbelt, maybe order a glass of wine, and close your eyes as this 200-ton hunk of metal carries you off into the sky and you drift off into a peaceful slumber only to be politely tapped on the shoulder by a friendly flight attendant informing you that you have arrived at your destination.
Unfortunately for a group of Spirit Airlines passengers, that’s the exact opposite of what happened.
In a TikTok video that has amassed over 13.5 million views, one passenger pulled out their phone just in time to catch a terrifying moment of turbulence that transformed what was supposed to be a relaxing flight into a stomach-dropping rollercoaster ride; one that had the entire flight screaming in their seats.
You can hear the rattle of seatbelts and luggage shifting in overhead bins as concerned “whoas” turn into ear-splitting “ahhs” and the camera, at first steady, completely falls out of the TikTok user’s hand.
Once is enough, but like a rollercoaster ride ascending a large hill and then dropping off a cliff, the airplane falls in the sky yet again, this time prompting someone to shout words of encouragement, “It’s okay! It’s okay!”
It turns out that person was the sister of the woman holding the camera. And to put into perspective how bad this turbulence was, she admitted that she is “never afraid of turbulence” but this flight had her “shakinggg!”
“My sister is the one saying “its okay” trying to calm everyone down haha ❤️,” she said. “ We sat on the tarmac for 4 hrs before taking off on an already delayed flight but apparently the weather was still pretty bad!”
Now, while turbulence is not “airline specific,” as one person pointed out in the comments section, there’s no question that Spirit Airlines has a reputation for tossing its passengers around in the sky, hence why #spiritairlineshorrorstory is one of the hashtags @minimerwin uses in her post.
“And then it’s on a SPIRIT flight.. lawd 🤦🏾♂️💀😅,” wrote another Spirt Airlines survivor in the comments section.
“Fly spirit, might become a spirit 😂😂😂,” wrote another, eliciting not so much a chuckle from this writer as a nervous laugh.
Then you have this former flight attendant imparting not words of wisdom, but indiscreet snickers at all the commotion this post has garnered. “I can tell you as a flight attendant, we are in the back laughing.” (We can imagine them smirking in the back of the plane while popping their gum as we speak).
But for those of us who aren’t former flight attendants and who don’t take well to turbulence, there are other solutions, such as, well, imagining you’re on a (super safe) rollercoaster. That’s right — it’s all about perspective. Mind over matter.
“Whenever the turbulence is a little bad i just think of me being on a roller coaster,” wrote one person.
Turbulence sherbulance — why imagine yourself on a Six Flags ride when you can be a happily wobbly piece of Jell-O?
“I just pretend I’m in jello when this happens,” said another. That makes perfect sense if you ask me.
Yes, we can hear the pre-flight advice now: In between showing you how to buckle your seat belts and fastening an oxygen mask over your face, the flight attendant in the middle of the aisle says, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are expected to experience some turbulence on this flight. Should that happen, just pretend you are Jell-O. Trust us, it works.”
All that to say, everyone made it safely off the flight, and the video has become yet another cautionary tale of not just flying Spirit Airlines, but flying during bad weather. Moreover, it’s become a form of entertainment to all those who take pleasure in watching others suffer; like this TikTok user who had nothing else to say other than, “I love when people scream.”
And on that note, we hope you have a safe flight.