Passengers were told to take off scarves and heavy necklaces. They were instructed to return their seat to the upright position. They were to cross their arms, place them on the seat in front of them and put their heads down.

They were told to steel themselves for impact.

And they sat in silence as the airplane descended.

The pilot and flight attendants yelled for passengers to brace as the ground approached.

But amid the scary descent, Deborah Chapman remained calm. After a bit of bumping and rattling, the plane came to a halt Sunday night. Everyone was safe.

Chapman was among the 122 passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 1551, which blew a tire while taking off in Newark, New Jersey, en route to Portland, according to a United spokeswoman.

A sea of emergency responders met the plane, but passengers were able to deplane normally at the gate.

"I felt that the crew was totally on top of it and had prepared us," Chapman said.

She said an odd sound was heard when the plane lifted off in Newark, but she thought it was overhead bins rattling. The crew didn't initially acknowledge the noise, she said, but the pilot later said he was concerned a front tire blew.

Flight attendants told everyone to get out their safety cards, and they led passengers through emergency evacuation preparations.

But the odds were in their favor. The pilot said there was only a 1-in-100 chance that would be necessary.

Chapman had flown east to return her visiting grandsons to their parents in Boston. She stopped in New York City on the way home to visit her daughter, then flew from Newark to Portland and went back to her Lake Oswego home.

The 59-year-old worked as usual on Monday morning. In a phone interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, she recalled the experience as a bit surreal.

But it won't keep her from flying again. She has a vacation planned in two weeks.

And she'll return on United Flight 1551.

— Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015