‘Shattered’: Greg Norman in terrifying flight emergency
Greg Norman has released images of his terrifying ordeal where he heard something “shatter” thousands of feet above the ground.
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Greg Norman has been involved in a terrifying flight ordeal thousands of feet above the ground.
The Aussie golfing legend has shared details of a nightmare moment he heard a “shattering” sound while he was on-board a private fight from Los Angeles to Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday morning (AEST).
The 70-year-old wrote on Instagram his chartered flight across the country had to turn back to Los Angeles.
“Inflight LAX - PBI loud pop = shattered windscreen,” he posted.
“Only the second time in 40yrs of private travel. Returned to LAX to the professionals to make sure all ok. Thanks all.”
The post left his followers, including Aussie sporting figures, all sharing their relief that the two-time British Open champ was safely back on the ground.
Photos shared by “The Shark” showed the front windscreen had been smashed in with cracked glass visible around the edges of the cockpit frame.
Another photo shows Norman smiling with emergency services workers. A fire truck could be seen in the background. Another photo showed Norman’s view from the tarmac where multiple emergency vehicles were seen surrounding the damaged aeroplane.
Norman did not mention who else was on the private flight with him.
The golfer-turned businessman had been celebrating wife Kristen’s birthday on Wednesday.
The other serious aviation incident Norman survived was at the 2012 Omega European Masters.
There were terrifying scenes when the nose landing gear on his private jet malfunctioned as he landed at Geneva Airport in Switzerland.
“We were going 60, 70, 80 knots, the wheel went 90 degrees, the nose started kangarooing and stuff in the cabin was going everywhere,” Norman said at the time.
“All the cabinets in the galley came out. The shaking was pretty violent. Nobody knew what was going on.”
In typical Norman fashion, he was back on the golf course the very next day.
Norman is a keen air-traveller and was previously working towards earning a helicopter piloting license with a flight instructor.
According to reports of recent years, Norman is “one of the bravest and best” helicopter pilots the instructor had ever seen.
Norman has previously owned at least one luxury flight craft and was the envy of many golfers around the word when he purchased a $30 million Gulfstream jet.
Norman has also previously mentioned other mid-flight scares, including having a wing get struck by lightning and an engine blowing on take-off.
It seems it takes much more than a broken cockpit window to unsettle the leading golf course designer.
If only he’d been this cool-headed during his final rounds at Augusta in 1986, 1987 and 1996.
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Originally published as ‘Shattered’: Greg Norman in terrifying flight emergency