Jennifer Lawrence Says She Was Mentally Preparing to Die During Private Plane Emergency Landing

The actress is opening up about her terrifying incident in 2017, when a private plane she was taking suffered engine failure.

Jennifer Lawrence is opening up about her scary incident in June 2017, when a private plane she was taking was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure.

The 31-year-old actress was leaving her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, after spending time with her family. While she was mid-flight at 31,000 feet in the air, one of the plane's engines failed. During the emergency landing in Buffalo, New York, the plane's second engine also failed.

"My skeleton was all that was left in the seat," Lawrence says in her new interview with Vanity Fair, recalling the plane dipping wildly. "We were all just going to die. I started leaving little mental voicemails to my family, you know, 'I've had a great life, I'm sorry.'"

When asked why she felt the need to apologize, Lawrence says she felt "guilty."

"Everybody was going to be so bummed," she explains. "And, oh, God, [my dog] Pippi was on my lap, that was the worst part. Here's this little thing who didn't ask to be a part of any of this."

When she saw the runway below with fire trucks and ambulances, she recalls praying. 

"Not to the specific God I grew up with, because he was terrifying and a very judgmental guy," she shares. "But I thought, 'Oh, my God, maybe we'll survive this? I'll be a burn victim, this will be painful, but maybe we'll live.'"

Lawrence still has a sense of humor about the terrifying incident, joking that her prayer consisted of, "Please, Lord Jesus, let me keep my hair. Wrap me in your hair-loving arms. Please don't let me go bald."

On a more serious note, Lawrence says the incident still affects her today.

"It made me a lot weaker," she says. "Flying is horrific and I have to do it all the time."

After keeping a low profile for the past few years, Lawrence is back in the spotlight to promote the highly anticipated Don't Look Up, which she stars in alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. She's also currently pregnant with her first child with her husband, Cooke Maroney, but don't expect the usually candid superstar to talk about motherhood.

"If I was at a dinner party, and somebody was like, 'Oh, my God, you're expecting a baby,' I wouldn't be like, 'God, I can't talk about that. Get away from me, you psycho!'" she says. "But every instinct in my body wants to protect their privacy for the rest of their lives, as much as I can. I don't want anyone to feel welcome into their existence. And I feel like that just starts with not including them in this part of my work."

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