Jennifer Lawrence Shares Details of Terrifying Emergency Plane Landing, ‘We Were All Just Going to Die’
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Jennifer Lawrence said she thought was going to die in a plane crash in the summer of 2017.
The actress was aboard a private plane when both engines stopped working and the crew was forced to make an emergency landing.
Lawrence recalled thinking of her family and feeling sorry for her dog on board.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair Jennifer Lawrence revealed there was a moment in the summer of 2017 where she thought she was going to die in a terrifying plane crash. The 31-year-old was aboard a private plane in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky routed for New York City when both engines stopped working.
“I know, flying private, I deserve to die,” the Silver Linings Playbook star, who is known for her dry sense of humor, joked of the incident and the known risk she takes every time she flys.
The actress had just finished filming her horror film Mother!, written and directed by her then-boyfriend Darren Aronofksy. Another passenger on the plane was the son of the Lousiville-based doctor that had delivered Lawrence and her two brothers.
Suddenly, while in the air, Lawrence heard a loud noise and the air pressure in the cabin began to feel "rubbery," she told Vanity Fair. The other passenger was called to the cockpit and returned to Lawrence with the terrifying news: One of the two engines had failed. Though he looked ghostly white, he assured Lawrence that they could in fact survive a safe emergency landing with just one engine.
Despite his efforts to lighten the situation and instill hope in Lawrence, the plane went silent and she instantly believed she was going to die. It had appeared they also lost the second engine, and the plane quickly began to plummet towards the ground.
“My skeleton was all that was left in the seat,” she told Vanity Fair.
The Hunger Games star shared that she even remembers hearing those in the cockpit panicking, and she found herself thinking about her family and friends and what she would say to them in her last moments.
“We were all just going to die,” she said. “I started leaving little mental voicemails to my family, you know, ‘I’ve had a great life, I’m sorry.’”
Lawrence then remembered that her tiny terrier mix, Pippi, was perched on her lap and she felt a wave of grief and guilt for risking both of their lives by choosing to bring the pup aboard.
“I just felt guilty,” she said. “Everybody was going to be so bummed. And, oh, God, Pippi was on my lap, that was the worst part. Here’s this little thing who didn’t ask to be a part of any of this.”
And just as she was about to lose all hope, a runway with fire trucks and ambulances appeared in the airplane’s window. So, she began to pray for her safety and had renewed hope she’d make it out of the plane alive.
“I started praying. Not to the specific God I grew up with, because he was terrifying and a very judgmental guy. But I thought, Oh, my God, maybe we’ll survive this? I’ll be a burn victim, this will be painful, but maybe we’ll live,” she said. Lawrence then added jokingly, “Please, Lord Jesus, let me keep my hair. Wrap me in your hair-loving arms. Please don’t let me go bald.”
Finally, the plane hit the runway in Buffalo—hard—bouncing along the way. Lawrence shared that a rescue crew arrived to break the door open while the passengers and crew inside the plane were crying and hugging each other in celebration of their safe landing.
As soon as she got off the plane, she had to quickly board another one to make it to her final destination and admitted to taking a few swigs of rum. “It made me a lot weaker,” she said. “Flying is horrific and I have to do it all the time.”
Now, all these years later, Lawrence is expecting her first child with her husband Cooke Maroney. We can't wait to see the amazing—and hilarious—mother Lawrence will be, and how she'll regale her child with this very tale.
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