Matthew McConaughey is ready to open up about the "hairiest flight I've ever had by far" after being aboard the Lufthansa flight that experienced severe turbulence on March 1, hospitalizing seven travelers.
McConaughey described being in "suspended disbelief" during the ordeal on Kelly Ripa's SiriusXM "Let's Talk Off Camera" podcast episode Wednesday.
"It's zero gravity. Your red wine and the glass and the plates that your food was on are all suspended, floating, still just in the air. And to look at it for that long, which wasn't that long – 1, 2, 3, 4, and then everything just comes crashing down," he recalled. "It was a hell of a scare. A complete loss of control, a 100% feeling of, 'I am not in control.' I have no way to get control of this situation at the moment."
Lufthansa flight 469 was scheduled to make a nearly 10-hour trip from Austin to Frankfurt, Germany. About 90 minutes into the flight, the Airbus A330, with 174 people aboard, hit a particularly rough patch of air and diverted to Washington-Dulles International Airport.
'Chaos':Matthew McConaughey's wife Camila describes severe turbulence on Lufthansa flight
McConaughey was on the flight with his wife, model Camila Alves McConaughey , who opened up about the experience on Instagram last month.
"I was told (the) plane dropped almost 4000 feet, 7 people went to the hospital, Everything was flying everywhere," she wrote on March 2. "The plane was a chaos and the turbulence keep on coming."
McConaughey spoke about prioritizing his wife's safety on Ripa's podcast.
"My tray table is what held me down. I did not have my seatbelt on, and there was not a seatbelt warning right before it happened," he explained. "I just immediately reached over, made sure Camila had her seatbelt on. Held hands just saying, 'OK, is that it? Is there another one coming?' Another one did come."
The actor recalled mixed reactions of people on the flight ranging from "ghost silent" to nervous "big bursts of laughter."
"It was the hairiest flight I've ever had by far," he added.
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Diverted:7 hospitalized when Lufthansa flight hits severe turbulence
McConaughey was put at ease because he and his wife were traveling with a friend, who happened to be a pilot. "He was calm as could be," McConaughey said. "He was like, 'These things are so tested, that yes, don't worry, the plane structurally can hold (the abrupt altitude drop).' That was a big relief."
Turbulence is essentially unstable air that moves in an unpredictable fashion. Most people associate it with heavy storms. But the most dangerous type is clear-air turbulence, which can be hard to predict and often gives no visible warning in the sky ahead.
Turbulence is common enough while flying, but incidents of severe turbulence are ticking up in part due to climate change, and experts say it's more important than ever to remain seated with your seatbelt fastened as much as possible while flying for your own safety and that of your fellow passengers.
Contributing: Elise Brisco, Zach Wichter, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
