Jennifer Lawrence did not think she would survive her 2017 air emergency.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the Oscar winner, 31, talks about the headline-making flight, while traveling via private plane from Louisville, Ky., to Teterboro, N.J., when one of the engines failed mid-flight at 31,000 feet. As they made an emergency landing in Buffalo, N.Y., the second engine failed and she thought it was all over.
“I know, flying private, I deserve to die,” the always-disarming actress said as she began detailing the accident.
It was June 10 of that year. The Mother! star had visited her hometown and was en route to NYC. During the flight, there was a loud noise. Lawrence and the one other passenger were told the first engine failed — and they would make an emergency landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Then the plane went silent and the second engine went out, which at the time was noted to be an “extremely rare” incident.
“My skeleton was all that was left in the seat,” Lawrence said. “We were all just going to die. I started leaving little mental voicemails to my family, you know, ‘I’ve had a great life, I’m sorry.'”
She said the “sorry” was because “I just felt guilty. Everybody was going to be so bummed.”
J. Law also felt bad because her dog Pippi was on her lap.
“That was the worst part,” she said. “Here’s this little thing who didn’t ask to be a part of any of this.”
She recalled looking out the window at the runway below. There were fire trucks and ambulances ready.
“I started praying. Not to the specific God I grew up with, because he was terrifying and a very judgmental guy,” she said. “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 quipped, “‘Please, Lord Jesus, let me keep my hair. Wrap me in your hair-loving arms. Please don’t let me go bald.'”
The plane hit the runway hard, bounced back into the air and then slammed into the ground again before coming to a stop. She said the rescue crews broke open the doors. The passengers and crew hugged and cried together, but they were all physically OK.
Lawrence then had to board another plane to get home — aided by “a very large pill and several mini bottles of rum,” the magazine noted.
As a result of the experience, she told the magazine she disagreed with the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“It made me a lot weaker,” she said. “Flying is horrific and I have to do it all the time.”
Lawrence went on to take a break from Hollywood and fell in love with Cooke Maroney. They were married in 2019 and are expecting their first child together.
