Shocking photos show California burning as wildfires spread

By Dean Murray

Shocking pictures taken from a passenger plane show Pacific Palisades burning.

Tai Wright, 32, from North Hollywood, was on board a diverted aircraft on Tuesday, Jan. 7 evening when they flew within view of the devastating wildfires.

The flight from Dallas Fort Worth had been diverted from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Tai managed to snap the photographs just before 9pm.

She said: "We approached the fire seen in the photos. I remained lighthearted and talkative at first, so as to remain calm myself and keep those around me feeling the same.

"However, we began feeling the heat from the fire directly beneath us and the turbulence that followed, which turned the flight from a nervously casual experience to a more terrifying one for everyone as we all grew quiet.

"As we passed the flames, the smoke followed, covering our vision and seeping into the smell of the cabin.

"Coming out of seemingly total darkness, we realized we were now over the ocean on approach to LAX, and whilst it was relieving to be free of the fire, we saw firsthand the effects of the wind.

"We could only hang on as our pilot expertly landed our craft in spite of the wind’s efforts to rock us, turn us, and push us in different directions.

"We kept swaying, vying for direction and balance all the way up until touchdown - one of only a handful of times I’ve genuinely applauded the pilot at the end of a flight.

"The experience was extremely scary for everyone on board, but I didn’t fully feel that until the adrenaline left my body in the Uber ride home.

"It was an interesting shared experience that seemingly brought a group of strangers together in an otherwise asocial situation, which was the positive element to how surreal the whole night turned out to be."

Satellite pictures from NOAA's GOES satellite shows the smoke plume from the fire on Tuesday.