Pilots describe being inside plane as it is rolled over by blast from jet engines
By Aaron Cooper, CNN
(CNN) — The blast from the jet engines of a Boeing 737 sent a small plane with a flight instructor and student inside rolling onto its roof this weekend, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
“We were scared. We were definitely scared,” the student, Kunal Gawli, told CNN affiliate KCBS/KCAL on Monday. “We were like, ‘What is happening?’”
United Airlines flight 2611 was waiting to take off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, headed to Chicago, when a Cessna 172 that had just landed was passing behind it.
As the commercial jet increased engine power to pull onto the runway the wind from the engines sent the smaller plane rolling, according to a report from the pilot inside.
“As soon as we started to turn to the left to enter the parking lot, we experienced sudden, strong airflow,” the instructor, Jason Ryu, told the affiliate. “At that moment, we lost, completely, the control and the airplane started to tip over.”
Both men were left hanging from their seatbelts as other pilots radioed for help.
“You said (the Cessna) flipped over? Is he doing all right down there,” the air traffic controller asked another aircraft in audio captured by ATC.com.
“They got blasted by the United 737 jet blast and then they flipped over,” the other pilot responded.
Surveillance video from the flight center shows the plane tilting up on its nose and left wing before being pushed forward, eventually flipping entirely over.
The 1,400 pound Cessna was operated by the Orange County Flight Center, which provides flight instruction and aircraft rentals.
“Train where the airlines operate,” the company’s website advertises. “Unlike remote or uncontrolled airports, John Wayne Airport offers: High-performance runway operations, Airline traffic exposure.”
Controllers sent emergency crews to check out the flipped plane but the pilot and student inside not injured.
The United 737 safely landed in Chicago two minutes early. The airline declined to comment.
The incident won’t keep Ryu from flying.
“It was definitely a terrifying moment, for sure,” he told KCBS/KCAL. “I’ve been pursuing this job as my dream every since I graduated from college.”
The Federal Aviation administration and NTSB are investigating the incident. An initial FAA report classifies the damage to the small aircraft as “substantial.”
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CNN’s Patrick Cornell, Sharif Paget and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.
