“That Flight Changed Me Forever” – Derek O'brein Shares a Life-Altering Experience at 30,000 Feet

There are moments in life that forever alter how we see the world. For Derek, Wednesday 21 May was just another day — until it wasn’t. Boarding an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar, he took his usual seat, 19F, by the emergency exit. A frequent flyer, he thought little of the journey ahead.

“I was on autopilot,” Derek recalls. “Forty-five minutes in, the captain asked us to fasten seatbelts. No turbulence at the time, but five minutes later, lightning lit up the sky.” What followed was not ordinary turbulence — it was severe. The aircraft began tilting sharply to the right. Derek, seated on that side of the Airbus A321neo, immediately sensed something was wrong.

“This wasn’t a few bumps. It was a terrifying, prolonged drop,” he says. For nearly ten minutes, the aircraft was tossed around by violent hail and lightning. In the cabin, panic erupted. People screamed, prayed, even chanted. Some attempted to film the chaos, but a voice rang out: “Stop filming.”

In that moment, Derek didn’t see his life flash before his eyes. Instead, his thoughts turned to his family. “I thought of my daughter’s upcoming wedding, my wife, stepdaughters, my friends… the sadness was overwhelming,” he shares.

But amid the fear, he also found clarity — and gratitude. He thought back to a powerful moment in his past: meeting Mother Teresa in Kolkata in 1990. “It was a life reminder,” he says. “In that storm, I made a pact — to be better. Kinder.”

When the plane finally landed — diverted to a military airfield — Derek stayed behind, alone in his seat. He needed time to absorb what had just happened. Speaking to the pilots, he learned that even the captain, with 41 years of flying experience, considered it the most difficult flight of his career.

“I only saw the damage to the aircraft’s nose after we disembarked. I still don’t know how close we came,” he admits. A week later, during an emotional call with a childhood friend, Derek broke down. “All he said was, ‘It’s all right. I’m here.’”

That flight changed Derek. It redefined what matters. “Life is fragile,” he says. “And now I truly understand — it’s a gift. One I will never again take for granted.”

Experience by : Derek O'brein

Source : NDTV