Anyone ever whitness anything on an airplane?

[-lenny-]

Back in the 90s I got bumped into a jumpseat in the cockpit. I thought it was great.

Probably about 2-3 years later I was in a plane that was trying to land in heavy fog. After multiple passes, we landed. But went off the end of the runway. We sat in the plane for a couple hours, then underway again.

[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by bradj

One time on a flight both pilots got sick from eating bad fish. Being a former fighter pilot I was forced to take the controls and land the plane.

Glad you've gotten over Macho Grande.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by Muzz

Way too much to list but;

I delayed a flight because my special meal wasn't on board (1 hour).

Elderly passenger went to the bathroom on the toilet seat and didn't clean it up.

2 months ago someone started smoking on the plane (same person twice).

Numerous people escorted on the plane by authorities for over staying visas.

Got served an economy meal while in business class because the pilot wanted my meal. (Hence why number 1 is a special meal request from now on).

A passenger sat in my business class seat and refused to move and would not listen to the cabin crew. (I personally threatened him and he moved very quickly in order to avoid the waiting authorities).

Had a flight attendant sit down beside me on a first class flight and kept me company the whole flight without serving anyone.

Had many a pilots in Yemen chewing Qat while flying.

Seen all kinds of crazy carry on including fish in plastic bags dripping from the overhead compartments.

Many many many women throwing up on landing in Yemen, KSA, Syria and Bahrain.

I once boarded the wrong plane, sat in my seat and was shocked when someone told me I was in their seat. I make mistakes too.

Really, there is so many little things we all see on every flight that is a little bizarre but makes the travel a little less boring.

Do you board with the other passengers?

[SC11]

One interesting flight I had was as a teenager flying off on holiday can't remember where to, we were talking off from Manchester and on take off there was an almighty bang and the plane juddered, after this is carried on taking off but a little roughly, quite a few passengers were screaming.

We levelled off a little and on came the pilot he apologised we had hit a bird on take off and it had taken out the engine but don't worry we can fly and land with one left! As you can imagine that didn't help haha

2 or so hours later we were off again with no hiccups.



Had a flight to Egypt grounded for 3 hours while they searched for a mobile dropped down the aircon vent or whatever it is along the floor edge by the young lad the row infront of me, they FA said until the can retrieve the phone the plane is grounded.



After being up 24 hours and a little vacant I proclaimed to the TSA at JFK when questioned on my reason for coming to NY my reply was 'just looking'

[Syed117]

The last time I flew emirates back from Dubai, the guy in front of me had too much to drink.

He started mumbling to himself.

Then turned around and started getting verbal with me:

"stop doing that"

"who do you think you are"

"you better stop"

I wasn't doing anything.

I went to the flight attendant and told her to cut him off immediately that I didn't want to get into a physical altercation with a drunk idiot on a plane.

He said a few more random things and I told him to turn around and go to sleep. I even asked the guy sitting next to him if he would assist me if anything happened.

In the end nothing happened, but it was a tense few hours before landing. I was mentally prepared to react, but luckily I didn't have to.

After years of travelling that's the only memory that sticks out. I don't think I've ever been that alert for that amount of time.

[Muzz]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Do you board with the other passengers?

Ya Mon, reading my response I see your point, but I have flown in every cabin and am comfortable pretty much anywhere despite how maybe my response could be interpreted. I just fly a lot (last year was in excess of 70 round trip international flights).

That was a summary of the last 17 years off the top of my head and I can assure you that only my Mother thinks that I am special (hopefully my Wife and Kids too).

[christianj]

I fly a lot so I see some pretty weird stuff but it's mainly people doing gross or IMHO strange things. Tops on my list are:

- Sitting in International Business Class the guy next to me boards the plane and makes himself comfortable in his seat. Before we take off, he removes his shoes (which would be ok and nothing surprising) and then removes his socks. At first I though he was going to put on the sock provided in the airline amenity kit but instead he starts picking at his toes and starts ripping at his toe nails. If this isn't gross enough he then pulls out the lotion provided in the amenity kit and starts lotioning up his feet. I had just about had enough when he gets up to go to the bathroom in his bare feet! Yuck! All this happened during the boarding process so when I noticed the flight wasn't full I asked the FA if I could move to another row. I'm afraid to think what else he did during the 10 hour flight.

- On a domestic US First Class flight the guy across the isle from me pulls out a travel toothbrush and starts dry brushing his teeth. He did this for a couple of minutes and then put the toothbrush back into the case and back in his bag.

- On a domestic US First Class flight I witnessed a "love" connection. Guy and woman probably in their late 40s (and neither of them was hot or attractive in any way) get on as total strangers and are seated across the isle from me. They talk and drink....and drink some more.....and drink some more, etc. When we get ready to land I look over and they are making out! It was completely akward and clearly booze related but I hope one of them had a hotel room waiting.

[Tony64]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

Glad you've gotten over Macho Grande.

Surely you can't be serious?

[Baco Noir]

I hurt my back carrying uneven and bulky loads through the Atlanta airport (bike and duffel bag on the way to Germany. Was flying business class, so I took advantage of the free drinks to try to relax the back - didn't work. While everyone else was asleep, I was still having drinks and the flight attendant noticed I was hurting and asked what happened. After I told her she asked me to get up and follow her to the space behind the last row of business class seat. I laid down and she walked on my back cracking it which helped some but not enough. We hung out talking until they were waking people for breakfast. As I deplaned, she handed me a bottle of Absolute and the number of the place she was staying in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, I was took wrecked to take advantage of the offer and had to be in Heidelberg that afternoon.

Don't know if anyone was the wiser to the flirting but I can say it's never left my mind.

[BNA/LION]

I witness myself about to go CrAzY every time a young kid is seated behind me kicking my chair and putting their hands between the seats. Don't their parents know the guy in the seat in front of them doesn't enjoy this and it is unacceptable?

O' and I bet my face is not so attractive to the parents of an infant child crying in the seat next to me either... Something you don't want to witness either.

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Tony64

Surely you can't be serious?

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

[Maxy]

Originally Posted by texasmade

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

I've seen this on an "Airplane".

[Jocke]

The worst thing I've been to is a guy who sat and coughed just the whole flight, really damn annoying. And the worst of all is that I was the guy.

[gmh1013]

My biggest "shocker" on a flight from Tampa to Vegas some guy gets a blanket over his lap and pleasures himself at 32000ft ....The America West flight attendant told him "sir you are going to have to stop that" I chimed in "or you will go blind"....the cops where waiting for him in Vegas 3 hours later....Ive seen bunch of mile high club stuff.....which I could never figure out how on earth they did it..im 6'2 and I dont have enough room to stand and pee in a plane's RR much less get 2 people in there

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by gmh1013

My biggest "shocker" on a flight from Tampa to Vegas some guy gets a blanket over his lap and pleasures himself at 32000ft ....The America West flight attendant told him "sir you are going to have to stop that" I chimed in "or you will go blind"....the cops where waiting for him in Vegas 3 hours later....Ive seen bunch of mile high club stuff.....which I could never figure out how on earth they did it..im 6'2 and I dont have enough room to stand and pee in a plane's RR much less get 2 people in there

they go to the cock pit.

[gmh1013]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

they go to the cock pit.

[gmh1013]

Originally Posted by hdrazor251

I was flying back from Las Vegas on Southwest back in the 90's. It was when Southwest had seats facing each other. I was facing the cockpit and the woman across from me facing the tail. After I got settled in, I looked at her and she had a white knuckle grip on the armrests, was breathing like she just finished running a 10k, and was white as a sheet. A couple of FA's stopped by at different times as asked her if she was OK and all she could do was shake her head "yes". The doors haven't even shut yet!! So now I'm worried that I'm going to have her stomach contents in my lap any minute but the flight is filling up and it's too late to grab another seat.

This is back when Southwest fancied themselves as being fun and the FA's were telling jokes over the intercom as people were boarding and while we taxied to the runway. Now she is even whiter, eyelids are welded shut, and breathing like she ran a marathon. To top it off, as we are gaining speed down the runway to take off, the FA get's on the intercom and says with an increasing cadence: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it, I..I..I..did it!!!". Now I'm sure I will be wearing her dinner.

After we leveled off she calmed down a little but never said a word and never lost her death grip of the armrest. Her reaction to the landing was exactly same as takeoff.

While taxing to the gate after landing she starts to calm down and tells me that she survived a plane crash a few years ago and this is the first time she has flown since. Apparently the flight crew knew this as they stopped by to congratulate her.

As for me, I spent the entire flight with the seatbelt off and my feet positioned so I could dive out of the way of the projectile vomit i knew was coming my way.

I remember those SWA days well flying to LA SF SD weekly....I hated it....after a bad day the last thing I wanted to hear was the pilot thinking his is a radio DJ too....at least it was only a 45-50 min flight

[Old Geezer]

I have done 100K+ miles per year for the past 20 years and have been relatively lucky to never have witnessed passengers freaking out, health emergencies, etc. I did witness one bizarre incident on a flight from Buenos Aires to Newark, NJ a couple of years ago.
During the boarding process, I was sitting in the second or third row of business class enjoying my questionable quality glass of wine when security personnel, armed and very serious looking boarded the aircraft. They surrounded the passsenger sitting behind me and asked him to get up and come with them. It was not a request. Thankfully the passenger did not resist and went with them quietly. The passenger was a huge hulking middle aged man wearing a t-shirt from an American junior league baseball team from the southeast so I assume he was an American. After they removed him the aircraft, maintenance and police came on board and dismantled his seat and reassembled it. We took off uneventfully 2 or 3 hours late.
Turns out the man had told the flight attendant as he boarded that he was "a vampire, had a knife and didn't know if he could fly the entire flight without becoming violent"
WTF !! I don't know if he was kidding, drunk, stoned, mentally disturbed, all of the above but I'm sure he had a very bad stay in Buenos Aires after that episode and heck, he may still be down there in a jail. Taking apart the seat was a search for the knife he claimed to have.

[hugs]

Originally Posted by Fredrik

In the 70s I was on a flight were a passenger had a live gazelle with him in the cabin. It was tied in the back of the plane. When we descended the droppings rolled down the aisle.

I knew of a couple people who in the 60s and 70s took home fireworks in their hand luggage for bonfire night because the American fireworks were much better than the ones we had over here in the UK.

Can only imagine what would happen if you tried that on now!!

[Peter99]

Many years ago I was flying back to the UK from Denmark in a 4 piston engined aircraft (yes, that far back!) when one of the engines started to backfire, I looked across the cabin and through the window I could see a long yellow flame from one of the engines.
The backfiring stopped and the flame stopped.
We made an emergency landing in small airport in Holland and turfed out and told that the aircraft was going to be repaired for the flight to continue. I was a little stunned to hear this.
I got bored waiting and after walking around a bit I found the spot where our aircraft was being repaired. The repair crew were up on a platform working on one of the aircrafts big radial engines and I could see they had a cylinder head off.
The repair crew were very concentrated and they just ignored me.
A couple of hours later that evening we boarded the aircraft and off we went and all was well for about 15 minutes, when suddenly that same engine started to backfire and being at night, this time, it was a real sheet of flame illuminating the whole cabin. I can recall a FA saying 'no worries', the built in fire extinguishers will put it out.
I and a few others were getting quite anxious by this time.
It seemed a long time before the flame went out and a FA actually mentioned to me that the flame could have burned through the main wing spar, lovely!
But we made an emergency landing, completed with fire appliances and foam over the engines, at Schiphol.
They put us up at a hotel and where, being really hyped up, I had a sleepless night and felt rough the next day.
But I thanked my lucky stars nonetheless!

[Peter99]

Many years ago I was flying back to the UK from Denmark in a 4 piston engined aircraft (yes, that far back!) when one of the engines started to backfire, I looked across the cabin and through the window I could see a long yellow flame from one of the engines.
The backfiring stopped and the flame stopped.
We made an emergency landing in small airport in Holland and turfed out and told that the aircraft was going to be repaired for the flight to continue. I was a little stunned to hear this.
I got bored waiting and after walking around a bit I found the spot where our aircraft was being repaired. The repair crew were up on a platform working on one of the aircrafts big radial engines and I could see they had a cylinder head off.
The repair crew were very concentrated and they just ignored me.
A couple of hours later that evening we boarded the aircraft and off we went and all was well for about 15 minutes, when suddenly that same engine started to backfire and being at night, this time, it was a real sheet of flame illuminating the whole cabin. I can recall a FA saying 'no worries', the built in fire extinguishers will put it out.
I and a few others were getting quite anxious by this time.
It seemed a long time before the flame went out and a FA actually mentioned to me that the flame could have burned through the main wing spar, lovely!
But we made an emergency landing, completed with fire appliances and foam over the engines, at Schiphol.
They put us up at a hotel and where, being really hyped up, I had a sleepless night and felt rough the next day.
But I thanked my lucky stars nonetheless!

[daveathall]

Boarded a C-130 from the UK to Cyprus, was handed ear plugs, thought it was a joke. It wasn't.

[landroverking]

Drunken Russians on a flight from JFK to Frankfurt.
Brought their on Vodka on the plane. When we landed some of the biggest police officers I have seen to greet them. Taken away in handcuffs.

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by daveathall

Boarded a C-130 from the UK to Cyprus, was handed ear plugs, thought it was a joke. It wasn't.

That's what they say about the C130 - the engineers managed to keep all the noise on the inside.

[Xenophon]

I was on an expedition some years ago in the 90's in Central America and had a two hour flight in an unpressurized Douglas DC3 fitted with bench seats. I sat by the door at the rear and could easily see outside the aircraft through a big gap between the door and airframe a foot away from me. The cockpit door wasn't closed and as it got dark the co-pilot held up a torch to illuminate the controls for the pilot to see. In fact, there were no interior lights at all. Shortly after we flew through a massive tropical storm which was like a rollercoaster with the lightning illuminating the cabin. Ah, happy days.

[locutus49]

I've been watching movies from the 1940's today (TCM) and even the non-working "bums" wear coat and tie. Hilarious, but I guess that was the way it was.

Originally Posted by BristolCavendish

Using your age estimation(s), I would have been approximately 5 years old at the time of this occurrence. A 5 year-old with a keen awareness of an inflight 'mile high club' would be pretty precocious (to say the least) and perhaps a prime candidate for later 'issues'.

This in-flight incident took place during my early 40s (and BMI has remained stable at 19.5). Being in one's 50s isn't necessarily old but certain attitudes often reflect it. That United flight attendant/stewardess was 'old school' and probably trained during the late 1950s-early 60s.

Flying always seemed more enjoyable (to me) when the mandatory retirement age for flight attendants was around 30. Can anyone still remember the 'golden era' of Braniff, Air Florida and PSA? Lufthansa was pretty good too. Nowadays many of these flight attendants are Paleolithic.

Those days are long gone as things have gotten more casual over the years. There once was a time when people dressed up for Sunday services, funerals and air travel. Some older photos of MLB baseball game attendees (up to about the late 1950s) show countless men wearing suits and ties to a ballgame.

[Wesley Crusher]

Great thread. Lots of funny/weird/interesting stories.

[daveathall]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

That's what they say about the C130 - the engineers managed to keep all the noise on the inside.

They did a magnificent job.

[Peter99]

Originally Posted by daveathall

They did a magnificent job.

At one time all UK military aircraft (might be diff now) were single skinned, hence the horrendous noise, but ''twas even worse in the piston engined era due to increase time of flight. e,g. I can recall piston engine aircraft 3 hours, turbo prop 1 hour, and no ear plugs were issued in them days!
But happy days nonetheless.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Peter99

At one time all UK military aircraft (might be diff now) were single skinned, hence the horrendous noise, but ''twas even worse in the piston engined era due to increase time of flight. e,g. I can recall piston engine aircraft 3 hours, turbo prop 1 hour, and no ear plugs were issued in them days!
But happy days nonetheless.

I flew in a C-123 with JATO and no doors. They couldn't open the doors in flight and had them strapped to the deck. It didn't get much quieter once the JATO turned off. Mixed with engine exhaust on a nap of the earth flight, it was a real joy ride.