Only gone against my Ju Ju once……’98 leaving Heathrow in a British Airways 747 to come home…….weather was foul to the point that I thought they would hold/cancel. I always booked seat 59A on those trips! My logic was IF it crashed, tail section usually breaks off and I may be saved! Well we took off and the wind was horrible, snow flurries etc. the plane wallowed into the sky like a lame wing duck, after an eternity. Here I am thinking, we are too slow to be flying? Wallow wallow etc……
It took over 60 seconds before the plane started to stabilise…….the longest 60 seconds of my life……..
IF one of the engines even sneezed, I think it could have been over. Fortunately the rest of the flight was fine.