Survived an Earthquake and out of clean clothes....time to go home!

I checked out of my hotel on the 30th floor and went to the airport. I waited a while in the sky lounge until my flight was called. I ran into James Fox, the program coordinator in Davao, at the gate. He was on another flight leaving right after mine.
I entered the plane and we taxied down the runway. Just as we were making the corner of the runway another plane was landing. The wings started bouncing up and down and I said to my seat mate, "Wow , that plane made a lot of jet wash." Then the plane really started shaking and bouncing and luggage started falling out of the bins. It went on a long time and we did think it was the jet wash or a really windy day.

After a few minutes, the pilot announced we had just been through an earthquake. Several more minutes passed and there were some really significant after shocks. About 30 minutes later, the pilot said that the tower had been abandoned and the airport evacuated. So, we had to sit on the runway and wait. Everyone got out their phones and computers to check the news. The cell towers were down, so we had no idea what was going on until the pilot said it was an 8.9 earthquake.

This is the view from my seat just as the earthquake was ending. My seat mate, who lives in Japan, told me it was not wind but an earthquake and a big one. She was right!

So, we sat on the runway 6 hours, then were towed back to the gate. I texted James to see if he got on his plane, but he was still in the airport. He evacuated to the shelter area of the airport and couldn't get a flight out until the next day or so. I also heard that the sky lounge had windows broken out and the tiles from the ceiling were falling in the terminal.

After the 7 hour wait, it was decided we could leave because there was no available shelter for us. So, our flight left and 22 hours after boarding I arrived in Detroit.

When I got off the plane reporters and camera crews were there to interview passengers. Evidently , we were the only flight that got back to the U.S. from Japan that day. I was interviewed by a local fox stations. It wasn't until I arrived in the hotel that I saw the news about the earthquake. That was crazy!

Thanks everyone for the prayers, texts, and phone calls.  It was so nice to know everyone was thinking of me. I had to post the message on facebook because the cell lines were down and that is the only way I could get the info to John. I flew home the next day from Detroit back to Jackson. Yipee!


This is my seat on the plane  overlooking the wing.  I wish a still picture could show how much we were bouncing. Our plane and the one behind us were the only ones that got out of Japan that day. Here is the sake we needed after that trip.