'Scariest flight ever': Passengers describe horrific journey through bushfire storm
Frightened passengers on board a Canberra-bound flight have recorded the moment the aircraft was engulfed by a giant storm created by the bushfires.
The Qantas flight left Melbourne on Sunday before entering the weather system generated by fires below.
Passenger Hua Cheng told Yahoo News Australia the flight quickly descended into panic as the view from windows quickly turned a vibrant orange before becoming pitch black.
“Everyone was concerned when it turned dark all of a sudden and the turbulence hit,” she said.
She took to his social media accounts to share a remarkable image of his view from his seat, showing nothing but a bright orange haze from the window.
She said the turbulence left her “jumping” off her seat, making it the “scariest flight” she’d ever been on.
The flight was forced to circle Canberra, unable to land in the conditions.
Another passenger on the flight Reece Vlazlovski said conditions were “unbelievably bad”.
“The transition from orange to black in a matter of seconds was unbelievable and made the turbulence that much worse,” he said.
The plane eventually landed about 7.30pm to the relief of all on board.
The flight had entered a pyrocumulus cloud which are formed by the excessive release of smoke matched with extreme heating, according to AccuWeather.
They can reach up to 10km in height.
This was over Blowering pic.twitter.com/gf63vviFSx
— Merrin Macleod (@merxplat) January 4, 2020
Joanne Benhamu shared photos from a Sydney to Melbourne flight on Saturday showing pyrocumulus clouds from above.
She said the scale was “incomprehensible”.
Just flown back to Melb from Syd. Pyrocumulus clouds much of the way. Felt like we were flying over volcanic eruption. Devastating. The scale is incomprehensible. #VictoriaFires #NSWfires #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/Yz6BOrVrmw
— Joanne Benhamu (@JoBenhamu) January 4, 2020
All Qantas flights at Canberra Airport were cancelled on Sunday due to the smoke affecting the capital while other airlines confirmed there were disruptions while some flights were diverted to Sydney.
Canberra has been facing the worst pollution on the planet in recent days due to surrounding bushfires with childcare centres and hospitals closed as the pollution became unsafe.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
