A Southwest passenger says flying into Denver once got so bad she held a stranger’s hand for an hour, and she just filmed exactly why

A Southwest passenger filmed a rough descent into Denver International Airport and said a previous landing there was so intense that she held a stranger’s hand for an hour. Her TikTok shows the aircraft shaking violently as it approached the city, as reported by BroBible.

Text over the clip read, “The captain has informed us it will be bumpy coming into Denver.” The passenger appeared visibly shaken once she finally got off the plane.

She said snack service often ends early to prepare for what the crew calls minor turbulence, but she said the reality is frequently much worse. She said that on the earlier trip, she was so nervous that she grabbed the hand of the stranger sitting next to her.

Denver’s mountains make landings bumpy

Her experience is far from a one-off. Data from 2025 provided by the turbulence forecasting service Turbli lists Denver International Airport as the most turbulent airport in North America, and it also ranks among the top 10 most turbulent airports globally.

Geography is the main reason for the shaky landings. Denver sits just east of the Rocky Mountains, and when wind travels over the peaks, it creates what the Federal Aviation Administration describes as mountain waves.

These waves happen when air currents pour over a mountain range and cause significant atmospheric disturbances on the other side. The disturbances can lead to sudden shifts in wind speed and strong updrafts and downdrafts as planes approach the runway.

Mountains are not the only factor, though. Denver is subject to the same weather as any other location, including sudden gusts, wind shear, and developing storms.

Commenters shared their own strategies for avoiding the worst conditions, and a popular piece of advice was to book flights that arrive early in the day. “Flying into Denver = taking the first flight of the day always,” one user wrote.

Turbulence caused by daytime heating can often be avoided by landing before the sun has warmed the ground and surrounding air, and that heating typically peaks between 1 PM and 5 PM, per AOPA. The National Weather Service also notes that storms in the area frequently form in the early afternoon, so flights that land in the morning or later at night may avoid some of those issues.

Other people shared stories about their own unsettling flights into the region, adding to turbulence complaints online that have included a JetBlue flight attendant’s turbulence announcement. “I flew into Denver one time and it changed my life,” one person commented.