Jennifer Aniston and her friends "got pretty hammered" when they feared their plane was going to crash.

Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston

The former 'Friends' star and a group of pals - including actress Courteney Cox and Jimmy Kimmel's wife Molly McNearney - were flying to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate her 50th birthday in January but they had to turn back and land in Ontario, California, after losing a wheel during take off.

The group boarded a new plane the next day, much to the shock of a number of people they knew.

She said: "Everyone was like, 'How could you get on another plane?' I was like, 'Listen, we all had to fly around for six hours dumping fuel, we all got pretty hammered 'cause who knew what the end of this was gonna be. Let's go out with some tequila.' "

The 'Murder Mystery' actress initially didn't realise why missing a wheel would be a problem, but realised her friends were "panicking" - and was thankful to receive a text from Ellen DeGeneres.

Speaking on the talk show host's show on Wednesday (05.06.19), she said: "Everybody on the plane started panicking. Everyone who I look to for comfort has got tears streaming down their faces. They're texting their children, their partners, their loved ones.

"And I was like, 'Who do I text? And then 'Bing!' You were the first person that was like, 'Are you okay?' And I was like, 'Ellen! I do have someone who loves me!' "

Ellen added: "I heard from someone Jen's plane is in trouble, they had an emergency landing. So I texted you right away."

Even after she saw how upset her friends were, Jennifer still didn't fully grasp the seriousness of the situation.

She added: "But I couldn't believe how calm I became and everyone else wasn't.

"We had to fly around for like six hours to dump the fuel, which still wasn't occurring to me this might be because if we land badly, it will explode."

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