General Hospital alum Brighton Hertford OK after terrifying experience on a plane

Brighton Hertford, who played BJ Jones on General Hospital as a child and then as a grown-up spirit last year, had a terrifying experience this week on a plane flight that has made national headlines.

She was on a flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam that had to make an emergency landing in Minneapolis due to sudden severe turbulence that left several people injured.

Brighton Hertford returned to General Hospital last year

Hertford shared two pictures on her Instagram Stories from inside the plane, telling her followers that she was on the flight and that she was OK. She described it as a life-changing experience.

According to ABC News, the flight was a Delta Airlines Airbus A33-900. The airline said 25 on board, including seven crew members, were taken to the hospital and were released on Thursday.

ABC quoted a passenger on the plane named Lauren Nash who said the turbulence came out of nowhere. She said, “If you didn't have your seat belt on -- everyone that didn't -- they hit the ceiling, and then they fell to the ground, and the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground, and people were injured, and it happened several times, so it was really scary."

On one of her Instagram stories, Hertford captioned it, “I was on the flight that’s being blasted on the news …. (many have asked). I’m OK. But also kinda not cuz that was the scariest, Final Destination (referring to the movie franchise) nightmare – trying to text my family because I thought it was the end. People were screaming and praying out loud.”

She went on to say “It is as scary as they portray it in the movies. When you fly, wear your seatbelt always. Also … defunding FAA was an aggressively stupid move.”

In the second slide, the former General Hospital actress showed a picture of workers attending to a flight attendant who broke his leg near Hertford. Hertford said she helped take care of the man and there was a nurse helping as well.

According to the ABC report, passengers will continue on to Amsterdam from Minneapolis-St. Paul on a special flight Thursday evening. Hertford has not posted if she will be on that flight.

Hertford played Barbara Jean “BJ” Jones, who died as a child in 1994 after a crash, and her heart was given to Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) in one of General Hospital’s most famous and heartbreaking storylines.

Hertford returned to General Hospital in 2024, when the show paid tribute to BJ’s adoptive mother Bobbie Spencer following her portrayer Jacklyn Zeman’s death in May, 2023.

Hertford’s character on General Hospital was a reporter named Angela Brighton who asked questions of Bobbie’s friends and family to learn about her. At the end of the tribute, she was revealed to be BJ’s ghost as an adult, and later revealed as the same actress reprising the role.

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Maxie and Felicia (Kristina Wagner) realized who “Angela” was as BJ said goodbye to her brother Lucas Jones (then Ryan Carnes) and disappeared after calling him “Champ.”

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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