White-Knuckled Worries
I flew from Ohio to Charlotte, North Carolina. During the flight, a hurricane unexpectedly turned hard inland and made landfall. All air traffic was not permitted to land, was backed up to the maximum, and flights were forced to circle the airport until they could get them on the ground.
Unfortunately, we arrived late and the air traffic at 30,000 feet was completely clogged. Instead, we were forced to circle the airport, below those flights, which was in the heart of the hurricane. We flew in circles for an hour and ten minutes, with lightning on both sides of the plane nonstop, with heavy turbulence.
Everything was thrown all over the plane, people crying, and basic terror. When we finally landed, no one would exit the plane. The applause lasted until the captain came out and spontaneously began weeping.
He told us that he is so, so sorry that we all had to experience that but that he was happy that he had the privilege of getting us safely back on solid ground and then hugged an older lady that kissed him until we forgot about the hurricane and started to feel uncomfortable for him.
I have white-knuckled every flight since then because, trauma. Story credit: Reddit / (Thrownaway_4_2_day)