Hannah Udren, a senior here at Harriton, has made headline news for taking a “selfie” after her plane crashed on Thursday, March 13th.  Some consider this selfie to be the “greatest selfie ever,” and her video and picture have been seen on NBC news, Perez Hilton, People.com, CNN.com, and many other news networks.  Her harrowing runway experience that she caught on video has even reached thousands of views on Youtube.

Hannah was on flight 1702 on a trip to Fort Lauderdale but never made it to her destination, as the plane’s tire blew up as they were taking off.  As the pilot tried to abort takeoff, the plane had trouble landing and broke the nose gear in the process.  The plane then crashed downward sliding off of the tarmac and the 149 passengers were told to evacuate the plane.  After reaching a safe distance, Hannah took a selfie that would later go viral.

Many news stations have been asking for a comment from Hannah, but we are lucky enough to get a full interview on her experiences during the crash and her reaction to all of the media attention.

Harriton Banner: What was the plane malfunction like? Were you scared or experiencing other emotions? What was the scene like around you?

Hannah Udren: The plane was going full speed, went up in the air for about two seconds and then crashed down, bouncing up and down until we slid to a halt.  All the lights were flickering inside and everyone was holding onto their chairs and screaming.

HB: How long did it take to evacuate the plane? Did you evacuate on those slide-like devices?

HU: Once we stopped moving we smelled smoke and the pilot did not say anything but the stewardess said we might have blown a tire on the way down.  We then looked out the window and saw the smoke so people started yelling evacuate.  I was in the exit row so I got out of the plane in seconds and I went to the wing and down the slide.

HB: Why did you decide to take a selfie/video?

HU: They told us to run as far away from the plane as we could, so I ran.  As I was running, I decided I wanted to tell my parents what happened so I took a picture and a video so they could see the action. My parents just wanted to make sure everyone was ok and no one was injured.  Also, since I was by myself, they wanted to know what the deal was and if I was okay.

HB: Did you expect it go so “viral”?

HU: I posted it on twitter just so people knew I was on that plane, because it is a pretty rare experience to be in a plane crash. I sent the video to my friends and one of them called the news.  The news station used my video and then the video and the picture spread everywhere. I had no idea it would go viral I just wanted my friends to see it!

HB: What are thoughts and feelings on experiencing all of this media attention? 

HU: The media attention is a little overwhelming, but once people get over what happened and the media attention dies down I’ll have a good story from it.

HB: Have you taken a plane ride since? Are you scared?

HU: I actually took a flight later that evening at 12 P.M. along with many others from the flight before on a plane to Florida. I was not scared because I knew what happened was a once in a million chance, and would never happen again.