While it is quite common to see footage of aircraft emergency landings taking place on runways, we rarely get to witness what goes on inside the aircraft.
But when an American Airlines aircraft was forced to perform an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) due to a possible brake failure, a passenger was on hand to record what happened inside the Embraer E170 aircraft.
The flight, AA 4418, which took place on May 27, 2023, was headed for Asheveille Regional Airport (AVL) in North Carolina from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
At the beginning of the video clip, TikTok user @CraftyMushroomStudio states: “So the brake light on our plane went on, and we had to do an emergency landing in Philadelphia with no idea whether the plane was going to stop or not.”
The video then transitions to footage taken inside the aircraft during the emergency landing.
The passenger can be seen frantically studying the passenger safety briefing card and flight attendants can be heard shouting: “Brace! Brace! Heads down! Stay down!”.
A child can also be heard and is briefly seen crying frantically throughout the whole ordeal.
Moments later, the passenger shows the view outside the window, where it appears the aircraft has landed safely.
Based on information from FlightAware, the flight left LGA at 11:44 and landed in PHL at 13:47.
In a comment under the video, the passenger said that the flight’s passengers transferred to a different American Airlines aircraft 45 minutes later, with the same crew.
Image: FlightAware
“I recorded a TikTok because, why not?”
Despite the safe landing, the passenger received criticism from viewers who were not impressed that she took the time to record a video and wear headphones during an emergency landing.
This prompted the passenger to release another video, explaining that her headphones were switched off, where the noise-canceling feature is not activated, so she could hear the flight attendant’s instructions.
She also admitted that she raised her head a few times despite the “Heads down” command from flight attendants.
“And yes, I recorded a TikTok, because why not? Welcome to the new generation,” the passenger said in the video.