- by foxnews
- 17 Aug 2025
"I was ready to go. Man, I was super pumped to get down there to Texas, to rock and roll with all the players and fans and coaches. I'm just so super-bummed that I can't be there, and I'm so sorry.
"Last night, we had some issues with the plane about 35-to-40 minutes into the flight. The pilot comes back to me, he gets down on one knee, and he is face-to-face with me. It's just me on the plane. Just me and the crew. And he says, 'Mr. Johnson, I'm sorry to inform you, but we cannot continue to fly over the ocean,'" he continued.
"'We have a problem. We have to turn the plane around, and we have to land back in Hawaii. You have my word I will land you back safely on the island.'"
Johnson praised Capt. David for his "demeanor" in that scary moment.
"He explained to me what happened, and he said it was a hydraulics issue with overheating. He said there are some issue we can work out as we are in the air, and then there's some that we are not going to take a chance, especially over the ocean, and especially when the computer of the plane is saying don't fly anymore over the ocean, you gotta get back to land," he continued.
Johnson related to his fans about the moment on a plane when you feel turbulence and begin thinking, "Is this it? Is this how I check out?"
"But when the pilot comes out and he has a conversation with you, and he gets down on one knee, and then he goes back to the cockpit, the flight attendant, she was amazing, she goes, 'Mr. Johnson can I get you anything?'"
He said he told the flight attendant to bring him a drink and "make it a double."
"When you are back there alone with just your drink, and you are thinking about this, and you've got everything crossed hoping you make it back safely, you start to realize really quickly the s--- that is really important in life.
While he appreciated the crew for getting "us back to land safely," he also thanked God.
Now California joins New York, Nevada, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon, and North Carolina has been significantly impacted by the downturn of tourism brought about due to a combination of factors. International and domestic visitors now have to deal with rising travel costs and skyrocketing airfare and accommodation prices. Further, safety concerns, negative perceptions, and traveling to the US are costs in and of themselves. Strict immigration policies are making it more difficult for foreign visitors to acquire travel visas which, compounded with the long-standing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, are fundamentally altering travel behavior and the public’s overall perception of travel. These realities have led to a marked decline in most tourism hot spots.
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