A routine flight from Los Angeles to Florida turned into a high-altitude scare for Aussie golf icon Greg Norman when the windscreen of his private jet shattered mid-flight.
Norman, who was on his way home to Palm Beach from the International Series Japan in Tokyo, spoke exclusively to Australian Golf Digest after the ordeal, which forced pilots to perform an immediate descent and emergency landing after a loud “bang” shook the cabin.
“We had been climbing out of LAX for around 15 to 20 minutes, so we were pretty high, when all of a sudden we heard this loud pop,” Norman told Australian Golf Digest.
“The windscreen had shattered and the pilots had to perform an immediate descent and slow-down, and we notified air traffic control of the situation.”
The next move, according to The Shark? “F–king land!” Norman laughs.
Of course, laughing about such situations is something the 70-year-old can do, for this isn’t the first time he’s had a scare up in the clouds.
“It’s certainly not my first rodeo with events like this,” adds Norman. “The last (mid-air emergency) I had was in my plane climbing at 30,000 feet and – BANG! – we dived to about 10,000 feet and slowed down,” he recalls.
“I’ve had more interesting things, as much as I’ve flown over the years – lightning strikes, cabin fires, breaking the ceiling barrier to see the curvature of the earth, losing hydraulics after taking off from an aircraft carrier…”
There was also the time he was forced to make an emergency landing in his chopper – right in the middle of an apple farm west of Sydney.
“Now you are talking helicopters – even more sh-t with that aircraft!”
Suffice to say, this daredevil isn’t going to let a shattered plane window worry him.
Norman had earlier revealed on Instagram that the incident occurred during a chartered flight on Saturday morning (AEST).
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“Inflight LAX – PBI loud pop = shattered windscreen,” Norman posted.
“Only the second time in 40yrs of private travel. Returned to LAX to the professionals to make sure all ok. Thanks all.”
The jet was forced to turn back to Los Angeles, where emergency crews were waiting on the tarmac. Photos shared by The Shark show the cockpit windscreen cracked around the edges — a sobering reminder of the risks at thousands of feet in there air.
Another image shows Norman smiling with emergency responders beside the plane, with fire trucks and other emergency vehicles in the background.
Norman confirmed it was just himself and the pilots on board.