This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Vincent Goh, a 25-year-old working in the Bay Area for a Cantonese publishing house, who was on United flight 869 when it made an emergency landing at SFO. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was on my way to Hong Kong for business, just as I had done three times in the past six months. But smoke coming from the plane had me thinking this would be my last flight.
The flight was already very delayed. I was one of the last to board.
It was then delayed for another hour. The crew said the plane was overweight, and they were taking luggage off it.
I was glued to my phone after takeoff, with my headphones in. I started getting a bit hungry, so I looked up, but I didn’t see a flight attendant bringing out the food.
Then I looked to my left to look out the window — I was in the middle seat — and saw lots of smoke coming out of the plane. It looked crazy.
As soon as I saw that, I took off my headphones and I started listening to the crew. The pilot said something about smoke and that the plane would be returning to SFO.
Passengers around me were talking to each other and looked anxious. I heard a person say in Chinese, “Are we fucked?”
I sent my friend in San Francisco what I thought would be my last message. I told her how to contact my family. I never talk to my family, but if something happened to me, I told her to contact them.
I was sitting very close to the gas tank. Imagine taking off your earphones, hearing that there is smoke coming from the flight, and being able to see the smoke it’s releasing. I was terrified.
We got back to SFO soon after, and people immediately stood up when the plane landed. The pilot told them to sit down.
We got off the plane OK. But I could not find any information counter for United, so I wandered around the airport for an hour, then ended up going to the United lounge for answers.
I was given a $15 meal coupon as compensation. If you’ve eaten at SFO, you know $15 is not enough for a meal here. I decided to get a good meal after the ordeal — fries and a chicken sandwich, with a glass of red wine, which came up to $35 after redeeming the voucher.
Vincent Goh
I’ve been waiting for the next flight for three hours. It keeps getting delayed.
I’m not in a hurry because it’s not an urgent trip. It’s Thanksgiving, so I took some time off for myself and decided to fly in ahead of schedule.
But if it were another trip with a tighter schedule, it might have really affected me.
Representatives for United Airlines told Business Insider that the flight, a Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 336 passengers and 15 crew members, returned to SFO “to address a burning rubber smell in the cabin.”