Former College Swimmer Emma Vu Aboard Alaska Airlines Plane “I Thought I Was Going to Die”

On Friday, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon after a door-sized hole broke off of the body of the airplane. Former collegiate swimmer Emma Vu was one of 177 passengers aboard the flight two days ago. Vu said “I just really thought I was going to die.”

Vu explained her flight experience in detail. She fell asleep as they waited to take off from the tarmac. Then, “I woke up because the plane was falling and I knew it was worse than normal turbulence because the masks came down and that’s when I started to freak out” Vu said.

When Vu realized it was a bad situation, “I was texting my family and friends too and I just really thought I was going to die.”

Vu was thankful for her background in the sport of swimming. She swam collegiately at Division III University of La Verne in La Verne, California. She graduated last spring with a degree in Business Administration and has stayed in the sport working for Arena.

“I think having swimming and growing up doing such an intense sport did help my mind control to take control of my thoughts to stop freaking out. For example, when I saw attendants handing out oxygen tanks, I was like that cannot be me – those tanks need to go to people who need it,” Vu said.

“I also definitely tried some deep breaths, which I did used to do before races! But I also practice mindful breathing regularly in anxiety-inducing situations”

After the plane made its emergency landing, Vu went to guest services to finish her travel. While in the hour and a half line, Vu was next to a fellow swimmer in line. Although Vu does not remember the man’s name, she knows he was a sprint freestyler and that he attended Riverside Community College, a school near Vu’s own La Verne.

Vu said her conversation with this fellow swimmer was “so comforting and made the time go by faster.”

Once she had rebooked her flight to Burbank for the next morning, she arrived to the gate and saw the group of Arena swim bags, a familiar sight for Vu. Soon, she realized she was on a flight with Oregon’s All-Star team. Vu spoke on her swimming history and how she stays in the sport working for Arena. Vu said this “brought some normalcy in my life just to do what I enjoy doing and they didn’t need to know I went through that traumatic experience the night before.”