A planeload of globe-trotting fashion editors had a dramatic scare in the skies while flying from Milan fashion week to the upcoming Paris shows on Monday afternoon.
An Air France flight — which one insider called “The Fashion Bus” because it was so packed with fashionistas hopping from one European fashion week to the next — was forced to abort its landing feet from the ground, sources said, after the plane rocked sharply from side to side. The flight suddenly took off again, causing frayed nerves (and undoubtedly some unfashionable sweat stains under the fliers’ designer duds).
On the flight were Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey, Allure chief Linda Wells, Interview editorial director Fabien Baron, Marie Claire boss Anne Fulenwider, Vanity Fair contributing editor Ingrid Sischy, style.com head Dirk Standen, Glamour fashion director Anne Christensen, Vogue’s Sally Singer and Mark Holgate, and Mark Lee, CEO of Barneys New York, among other notables.
One fashion flier said the flight went smoothly until, “As we got extremely close to the runway, the plane started rocking. We were about to land, and the pilot suddenly jerked the plane upwards, back into the atmosphere.” The source added, “A stewardess announced, ‘Mesdames et Messieurs, we are sorry, but we will have to abort our landing.”
As the crowd tried to keep its cool, a pilot later informed passengers, “in Italian, French and English,” that “due to adverse runway conditions, we were unable to land. We will try again in about 10 minutes.” After climbing and circling for 15 minutes, the plane made it without incident.
One editor said, “It seemed like it was a wind gust. The plane tipped one way, then another, like a seesaw before the aborted landing.” Afterward, “They apologized for the delay, but didn’t mention anything about the near-death experience. I think I’m taking the train next season.”
Once on the ground, “Everyone was talking about it in baggage claim,” and Baron animatedly recounted the incident for a friend who met him. An Air France rep did not return a request for comment.