My plane ride home from Medjugorje

The following is the email I sent out following the trip home from Medjugorje:

Hi, all-
> > Hope you had a wonderful trip home and are not finding the "re-
> > culturization" process too painful. It has been said that when one
> > returns from such a mountaintop experience as we did, that there are
> > often challenges for us immediately upon returning. In this line of
> > thought, I wanted to tell you about my experiences getting home from
> > Washington to San Francisco.
> > At the DC airport I found that all flights into SF (except for my
> > own) had been cancelled due to weather conditions. Our plane took off
> > 6 hours late and about 3 hours into the flight our pilot announced
> > that the airplane navigation equipment was malfunctioning , so due to
> > the extreme weather conditions in San Francisco we were going to head
> > to Denver to change planes rather than attempt the flight into the
> > planned destination. We landed in Denver and waited another 3 hours
> > until a plane was ready for us. We boarded again and set off on our
> > flight. As we were flying over the Sierra mountains our pilot issued
> > a direction for everyone to return immediately to their seats- he said
> > we were on the honor system to put our seat belts on as all the flight
> > attendants needed to be seated as well. About 5 minutes later, the
> > turbulence hit. It was strong but everyone remained very calm. Then
> > we dropped. There is really no other way to explain it- we just
> > started falling and fell silently for 3-4 seconds; it felt as if we
> > were a paper airplane unsupported by any air current, just dropping
> > silently and swiftly. At this point, people started screaming. The
> > fall halted and more turbulence hit; this turbulence felt as if it
> > were shaking the plane from the front; the nose appeared to be
> > pointing downward and then jerking up again rapidly. The turbulence
> > was extreme; some overhead bins started opening and suitcases were
> > falling into the aisles. Then we dropped again; more screaming and
> > babies crying all over the plane. I felt strangely calm during it
> > all- praying my rosary slowly (though I confess I was not
> > concentrating on the mysteries...). We did 3 such drops (although
> > none so prolonged as the first one) followed by extreme turbulence.
> > During all this there was not a word from our pilot or crew, we had no
> > idea what was going on. After about 15 minutes of this the turbulence
> > lessened and about 30 minutes later we heard the clunk of our landing
> > gear coming down- on looking out the window we could see that we were
> > pulling into a landing strip with fire engines on either side of us.
> > Ironically the landing was so smooth it barely felt as if our wheels
> > were touching the ground at all. Finally the very shaky voice of the
> > pilot came over the loudspeaker with the 3 words "we made it" then the
> > intercom clicked off again. Then a minute or 2 after the flight
> > attendant, also in a breaking voice announced that we were in Salt
> > Lake City. My whole body was now shaking uncontrollably- we got off
> > the plane and by 3:30 in the morning were all put in hotels for the
> > night and booked together on an additional flight for the following
> > day at noon.
> > We all arrived the next morning- there were a few empty seats and a
> > different pilot, but other than that the crew and all the passengers
> > were the same as the flight before. We discussed with nervous
> > laughter the events of the previous day. Weather conditions were
> > good- we took off from Salt Lake without a hitch and San Fran was
> > reportedly cloudy but other wise good conditions. The flight was
> > uneventful until the last 30 minutes. Suddenly the pilot announced
> > that were all to get into our seats again on the honor system; we were
> > beginning the descent into San Francisco. Then turbulence. As soon
> > as the first turbulence hit, I heard the man behind me beginning to
> > hyperventilate loudly and my heart beat jumped. Suffering from the
> > post trauma of the flight before, it is difficult to say how bad the
> > turbulence was this time around, but people were hugging their knees,
> > holding hands and sittting in absolute silence trying to remain calm.
> > The plane again began dropping (but nothing like the night before).
> > Then we heard an explosion, felt the plane jerk slightly and saw a flash of
> > bright, fire orange light; not a word from pilot or crew. We
> > continues falling and more turbulence, this time no one was crying-
> > the whole plane was silent. After a few minutes we came beneath the
> > clouds and could see the city spread out beneath us; I had never been
> > so happy to see it before but we still did not know what was going on.
> > The turbulence lessened and our landing gear came out; upon landing
> > we all clapped, some cried. The flight attendant finally came on- in
> > a teary voice she said " I don't know about all of you, but I am so
> > thankful to be home" She said that she had never been on a flight
> > like this; everything possible had gone wrong on this "harrowing" 2
> > day trip. A team of men was outside checking the side of the plane-
> > the pilot confirmed that we had been hit by lightning. When I got off
> > the plane I felt my knees wobbling and as soon as I saw my sister and
> > friends waiting at the airport I started crying. I am so thankful to
> > be home. I can't help but feel that our lives really were preserved
> > that day.
> > So anyway, I'm not sure what all your experiences have been upon
> > arriving home. My sister, after a safe trip home came down with a
> > raging stomach flu and high fever. So all this to say I guess we can
> > expect trials; we have to fight for our faith; it is somewhat
> > therapeutic to write these experiences all down. I hope you all are
> > doing well- please keep in contact and know that you are in my
> > prayers.
> > Love, Faith.
>
>