US President Barack Obama is one of those who managed to avoid a plane crash
We are used to thinking that celebrities are people who are luckier than others. In fact, they also get into unpleasant and scary situations. Lenta.ru found out which stars became participants in plane crashes and other serious incidents in the air, but happily escaped death.
Almost Remained a Senator
In 2008, a small Gulfstream aircraft, in which Illinois Senator and future US President Barack Obama had arrived from Nevada to Chicago, collided with another aircraft (empty and stationary) after landing. The planes "met" wings and, of course, were badly damaged, but the passengers, including Obama, survived.
Lucky "Miss Congeniality"
On December 20, 2000, actress Sandra Bullock was on board a plane making a night flight from Texas to Wyoming. Visibility was not very good, and the pilots could not make out the runway. The aircraft landed parallel to it, causing significant damage to the fuselage. The landing was far from smooth, but no one was injured.
"What the f*ck!"
That's exactly what Johnny Depp thought when the engines of the plane the Hollywood actor was on heading to Mexico suddenly went silent. Depp and Bruce Robinson, director of the film "The Rum Diary", were going to look for suitable locations for outdoor filming. Later, in an interview, Johnny told what he was thinking during those ill-fated two minutes while the plane was falling. "I thought – what the f*ck, this is death, that's how it happens," the actor recalled.
Robinson also shared his impressions: "We really thought we were going to die right there. It was a real rite of passage. Johnny and I are looking out the window in silence, and the horizon is approaching us. We both think: that's it. We look at each other, and (perhaps from the considerable amount of 'Château Haut-Brion' we had drunk), we just start laughing. We laugh so hard we fall to our knees, under the seats."
A Flight to Moscow, Eh?
In 2010, Leonardo DiCaprio was flying on a commercial flight from New York to Moscow. He intended to participate in a summit on saving Amur tigers in St. Petersburg. Just 30 seconds after takeoff, passengers heard a loud bang and noticed an orange flash outside the left side near the engine. The plane lost speed and banked left, but the crew managed to land with one working engine. True, they had to circle over the Big Apple for about an hour.
After everything ended happily, Leonardo thanked the pilots and also gave autographs to everyone who wanted. And, by the way, he still managed to arrive on time for the animal protection summit, arriving in Russia on a different flight.
Dangerous Hobby
Harrison Ford is not only an actor but also a professional pilot. Aviation is his hobby, and he constantly improved his skills. In 1999, in California, Ford was on a training flight in a helicopter. The machine was not piloted by him, but by an instructor. Due to a malfunction, the aircraft fell into a dry riverbed. Neither the Hollywood star nor his trainer was injured, but the helicopter was damaged.
Smoking is Harmful
Patrick Swayze, who died in 2009 from cancer, was also an amateur pilot. In 2000, he was making a flight from California to Nevada in the company of his two beloved dogs. During the flight, the pilot suspected depressurization and decided to make an emergency landing in the area of Arizona, on a regular highway. The landing was hard – the plane hit the road surface and bounced up, but on the second try Swayze managed to land the plane more softly.
During braking, the plane slid off the paved intersection onto a dirt road, knocked down a stop sign and a lamp. Finally, the aircraft stopped, brushing a transformer box in passing. The actor and the dogs were unharmed. Later, experts determined that depressurization had indeed occurred. They also scolded Swayze for smoking on board: in their opinion, one of the reasons for the hard landing was the pilot's poor physical condition, having inhaled tobacco smoke in the cabin.