On my fight back to Pasadena something bad happened. Suddenly our plane was tossed, entering about a 30 degree roll and sliding sideways. It was over very quickly, but it was quite dynamic.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

What happened to us is dryly called a “wake encounter.” We ran into the wake of another plane, causing violent turbulence. Wake turbulence has been known to tear smaller planes apart.