A daily flight from Los Angeles to Florida turned into a high-altitude fear for Aussie golf image Greg Norman when the bonnet of his private plane shattered mid-flight.
Norman, who was on his way home to Palm Beach from the International Series Japan in Tokyo, spoke exclusively to Australian Golf Digest after the ordeal, which forced aircraft to perform an immediate descent and emergency landing after a loud “bang ” shook the house.
“We had been climbing out of LAX for about 15 to 20 minutes, so we were very great, when all of a sudden we heard this loud music, ” Norman told Australian Golf Digest.
“The bonnet had shattered and the pilots had to do an instant origin and slow-down, and we notified air traffic control of the situation. ”
The second shift, according to The Shark? “F–king property! ” Norman laughs.
Of course, laughing about such circumstances is something the 70-year-old may do, for this is n’t the first time he’s had a scare up in the sky.
“It’s undoubtedly not my first dance with situations like this, ” adds Norman. “The last ( mid-air emergency ) I had was in my plane climbing at 30,000 feet and – BANG! – we dived to about 10,000 ft and slowed down, ” he recalls.
“I’ve had more interesting things, as much as I’ve traveled over the years – lightning strikes, cabin fires, breaking the ceiling barrier to see the curvature of the earth, losing hydraulics after taking off from an aircraft carrier … ”
There was also the moment he was forced to make an emergency landing in his chopper – right in the middle of an apple land east of Sydney.
“Now you are talking planes – yet more sh-t with that plane! ”
Suffice to say, this hero is n’t going to allow a shattered plane window worry him.
Norman had earlier revealed on Instagram that the incident occurred during a chartered flight on Saturday morning ( AEST ).
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“Inflight LAX – PBI loud pop = shattered windscreen, ” Norman posted.
“Only the following day in 40yrs of private vacation. Returned to LAX to the experts to make sure all fine. Owing all. ”
The plane was forced to turn back to Los Angeles, where emergency personnel were waiting on the tarmac. Photos shared by The Shark show the pilot bonnet cracked around the edges — a sobering reminder of the challenges at thousands of feet in that air.
Another photograph shows Norman smiling with emergency responders beside the plane, with fire trucks and other emergency cars in the background.
Norman confirmed it was just himself and the aircraft on board.