The pilot of a United Airlines flight has given possibly the worst possible take-off warning, telling passengers the plane would be flying into "horrific storms - including tornadoes".
The pilot's warning, broadcast over the plane's intercom, terrified passengers so badly a flight attendant had to use the microphone to calm the flight down.
- Audio captures moment plane avoids worst aviation disaster in history
- Drunk plane passenger blames medication for grounding flight
- Airline industry in freefall after another violent incident
The flight from Chicago to Newark on Tuesday evening (local time) was about to take off when there were a number of tornado warnings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"He seemed angry," passenger Pamela Kent told nj.com.
"He said 'we're going to be flying through horrific storms - including tornadoes.'"
Ms Kent also says the pilot told passengers to "get to know your neighbours". He then went into the cockpit and shut the door.
The plane ended up taking off after a seven-hour delay, during which time about 50 passengers disembarked.
United Airlines says it is investigating the incident.
"We would never put our crew or our passengers in a situation where it was unsafe to fly," spokeswoman Natalie Noonan said.
"The safety of the passengers and the crew is always our number one priority."
Newshub.