Ohio family on flight that nearly hit Pacific Ocean

LANCASTER − Being aboard a jet in a steep dive just seconds from slamming into the Pacific Ocean at 300 mph is a terrifying experience.

But that is just what Rod Williams II and his family experienced on Dec. 18.

Williams, his wife, Abbey, and their two children, Evy and Eli, were aboard United Flight UA 1722 leaving Kahului, Hawaii, and heading for San Francisco in severe weather when the Boeing 777 they were flying in plunged to within 775 feet of the Pacific Ocean.

Williams said they were about 5.2 seconds seconds from impact before the pilots safely pulled the plane out of the dive.

The plane dove at the rate 8,600 feet per minute or about 143 feet per second, according to USA Today.

The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the incident and said it expects to delivery a preliminary report in two to three weeks.

Details of the incident just came out this month. Since then Williams has appeared on Fox, CNN and other national outlets telling his story.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane's nose pitched up sharply in a steep ascent.

“A few folks let out a scream,” Williams, a former Lancaster Eagle-gazette advertising employee, said. “You could definitely hear some commotion and concerns as it was an awkwardly high pitch.”

Williams, now a local real estate agent, studied aviation at Ohio State and said he was afraid the plane may go into a stall because of the steep ascent.

“So I'm expecting that if this is a stall we might go nose down,” he said. “And 3 to 5 seconds after having this dramatic pitch-up we then go into a nose dive. We were in that dive for about 20 seconds. The report shows we dropped from 2,200 feet down to about 775 feet. Going from 2,200 to 775, that's a problem.”

Because of the cloud cover, Williams said he didn't know if the plane was over land or water. He didn't know how close they were to the ocean because of the clouds.

But he felt the strong G forces the dive the caused.

“My head is pressed back against the headrest,” Williams said. “I've got myself, my two kids and my wife with the kids between us. As we're going into this dive and picking up speed I'm starting to brace myself, not knowing what's ahead. Not knowing we are close enough to the ground where we can make impact. You're hoping and praying that everything's going to be OK.”

Williams said his wife was also praying, as they do before every flight they take.

“I'm understanding without saying anything that we both are realizing the severity of the situation,” he said. “The rest of the cabin is trying to maintain composure, but it's definitely getting a little more chaotic and a few more screams.”

The pilots finally pulled the plane out of the dive after about 20 seconds, which Williams said put 2.7 Gs on the passengers.

“That's a significant force of gravity on your body,” he said. “You're tensing up, clenching your teeth. Basically holding your breath trying to oppose the pressure being felt on your body. You feel like you've got an extra 50 pounds in your forehead.”

Williams said a person feels helpless in such a situation and must come to terms with the fact that what is going to happen is going to happen. But he said he did not have a feeling of resignation to the possible crash.

“Resignation just sounds strong to me,” Williams said. “It's not that I'm quitting. I'm not giving up or saying I'm done. It's more of I'm anticipating and hoping and praying that we're going to get out of this. But, ultimately, if I truly trust and truly believe the prayers that I've prayed, then I just have to enter into this mindset of just trusting that those prayers are going to be answered and just being OK with what ultimately happens.”

It then took about 10 minutes for the plane to reach a stable cruising altitude and continue on to San Francisco with no further incidents.

Shortly after the recovery someone from cockpit told the passengers they had probably experienced a couple Gs, but that everything was OK. Williams said that announcement made him feel a little better.

The Williams family then boarded another plane in San Francisco for the nonstop flight to Columbus.

Now that the experience is over, Williams said he's thankful to the crew for getting them out of the scary situation.

“There's a lot of speculation about what caused this,” he said. “But right now I'm just thankful. The pilots are experiencing everything that we're experiencing while also trying to maintain enough composure to control the airplane and save everybody. They did a fantastic job and I'm super thankful of their professionalism and the flight attendants being able to keep everybody calm.”