Nervous. Scared. Shaky. Weak. Confused. Shocked.

Then, calm.

Amber Wenger, one of three students from Lancaster County on a plane that had to make an emergency landing Wednesday night, felt all of those emotions during the hour-and-a-half when many aboard thought their lives were about to end.

"It was definitely an unreal situation to be in, kind of like a movie," the 20-year-old Manheim woman said. "Even when it was happening, I thought, 'Is this really happening?'"

The American Airlines plane had left Puerto Rico en route to Philadelphia.

Two hours into the flight, smoke filled the cockpit, the inner windshield shattered, and the lights went out.

The plane shook as it dropped lower.

Terror spread through the 24 Messiah College students, two teachers from the Christian college in Grantham, and 113 other passengers aboard Flight 1738.

"I definitely was nervous, shaky," Wenger said. "My body felt really weak, but I wanted to be strong for the girl sitting beside me and some other girls.

"I would have thought I would cry, but I didn't," the college junior said this morning.

The plane eventually made an emergency landing at Palm Beach (Fla.) International Airport about 9 p.m. because of what turned out to be a broken heater. But for an hour-and-a-half, passengers and crew prepared for the worst.

"Now I know how I would handle a near-death experience," Wenger said. "Now, I know that I can."

Her boyfriend, Cody Wanner, was next to her on the plane and comforted her for a time, but then he left her side to volunteer his help in case an emergency exit door would have to be opened.

Wenger then moved over a seat to comfort a friend, Jen Ward, 21.

"She was crying," Wenger said. "I told her, 'It's OK, it's going to be OK.'

"I felt a sort of peace about things in a weird way. I am Christian and knew it would be OK, whether it was my time to die or whether I was going to live.

"I was scared. I tried to calm myself down. I thought, 'God has his hand on this plane. I don't think he's done with me yet. There's more for me to do.'"

Wenger was one of the students who had boarded the flight in San Juan about 6 p.m. Fellow juniors from Messiah, Amanda Buckwalter, 20, and Tyler Ranck, 21, were the only other students from the county.The students were headed home after completing a cultural-exchange program in the French West Indies. They planned to resume classes next week.

The flight took off about 6:40 p.m. About two hours into the flight, smoke began to fill the cockpit of the Boeing 757.

Wenger smelled smoke — "a not-normal smoke smell" — and then the lights went out.

Flight attendants scurried around, quickly shutting compartment doors, turning on flashlights and taking a fire extinguisher to the front of the plane, Wenger said.

"Everyone was just wide-eyed, looking at the flight attendants," she said.

About 10 minutes into the ordeal, the passengers were told that the pilot was looking into the problem and that it might be electrical in nature, Wenger said.

According to American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner, a heating element on the plane's windshield "arced," causing smoke to fill the cockpit and shattering the inner windowpane. The plane's outer window was not damaged.

The heating element, said Wagner, normally prevents the windshield from icing.

While the crew tried to determine the problem, Wenger thought of her parents, Kevin and Kay Wenger, and 17-year-old brother, Tyler, a senior at Manheim Central.

"I'm daddy's little girl and my mom's best friend," she said. "I just knew it would be really hard for my parents. ...I thought about my brother a lot, that then he would be an only child."

Lights came back on in a few minutes, but Wenger smelled smoke four different times.

Each time "made my heart sink," she said. "It was a reminder that something was wrong."

Scariest of all was the announcement that there was smoke in the cockpit and that the pilot would have to do an emergency landing in 90 minutes.

The fact that they were flying over the ocean and that Wenger only could see blackness out her window didn't help.

The Messiah students had grown close after spending three weeks together in Guadalupe and Martinique, and were sitting together at the back of the plane. They formed a chain of hands and prayed.

Then they had to learn emergency-landing procedures, how to open the plane doors, use oxygen masks, operate water slides and help escort passengers to safety.

The wait to land was agonizing. They couldn't use their cell phones to call family or friends.

They sang hymns including "Amazing Grace," "Blessed Be Your Name," and "Our God is an Awesome God."

Finally, they were told they were approaching the airport in West Palm Beach.

A huge wave of applause erupted when they landed smoothly and safely.

Practically everyone on board immediately picked up his or her cell phone.

Ambulances and fire trucks were waiting.

Wenger said the whole experience will change her life.

"It made us look at things we take for granted. I always tell my family I love them. Now, I undertand that meaning."

Six people aboard the plane — one passenger, three flight attendants and two pilots — were taken to a local hospital because of smoke inhalation, said Wagner, the American Airlines spokesman. They were all treated and released Wednesday night.

The other passengers spent several hours waiting at the airport. American Airlines provided snacks, water and soft drinks. And a magician, who had been a passenger on the plane, performed an hour-long show to keep everyone entertained.

Early Thursday, American Airlines flew the passengers to Philadelphia.

At about 4 a.m., all 139 passengers arrived safely at Philadelphia International Airport.

(McClatchy-Tribune News Service contributed to this report).

CONTACT US: rrobinson@LNPnews.com or 481-6032