17. The engine inside our plane quit and the plane fell toward the water

“I was in a plane crash when I was 9. It was a small plane, with only my dad and I being the only ones in the plane. The plane had 4 doors and a propeller. That kind of plane.

We were about 1000 feet over the San Francisco Bay, and the engine quit. The plane proceeded to fall, as would be the case. We approached the water, my 9 year old brain coming to grips with the concept of death and such.

We hit the water, and the plane skipped a few times, and water began to flood through the floor. My dad and I got out and sat on the wing of our sinking plane for about 30 minutes and the plane was too sunk to stay sitting on, so we had no choice other than to swim towards shore.

The shoreline was miles away at least, however we had no other options. As we were swimming, (mind you the water was freezing in October), another recreational pilot in a helicopter flew overhead and attempted to drop us life jackets. One was horribly off the mark, but we were able to grab one.

After swimming for half a mile in t-shirts and shorts we came across a mud flat and dragged ourselves onto it.

We were waiting there for a while, and a department of fish and game boat trolled by, looking for illegal hunters. This led to our rescue!

When I got home, I took the best shower of my life.

Now, I’m 19 and still have a residual fear of flying, but I am okay with flying on my own and all that.

What really left an impact on me is the experience of a worst case scenario, and how my mind will usually jump to that in most situations. This anxiety has led to me being incredibly jumpy, and on edge constantly.

PTSD can manifest itself in all walks of life, with even the littlest things resulting in my getting spooked. As a 9 year old without any follow up therapy, coming to terms of this on my own has really shaped my character.

The cause of the crash? Condensation in the fuel bladders of the plane put water in the engine, killing it mid flight. They didn’t successfully recover the plane, but they managed to pull it up out of the water to see if they could determine a cause. The plane was far too damaged to be anything other than scrap at that point.

On a positive note, this accident gave me a new perspective on life, and showed me that life can be taken away just as easily as it is given. Life each day like it could be your last!!” — critty15