Anyone ever whitness anything on an airplane?

[gregmoeck]

These news stories are crazy, the only thing I ever encountered was a ride lady banging her seat violently because someone behind her was opening a toy for her child, I guess the lady didn't like the plastic cracking sound.

[doubleroll]

I used to fly quite a bit and not witnessed much to be honest. Worst case was a older drunk man who insisted to have more to drink. When he became unruly they zip tied his hands and made a unscheduled landing to turn him over to police. Cost us a couple of hours delay to our final destination.


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[locutus49]

It seems every time we fly 1st class there is a screaming baby in 1st class that makes the trip unenjoyable.

[KDS777]

I have flown 100K miles a year for a decade. 65% of it in the front of the bus and 35% in the back. Seen a lot while sitting in the back, never witnessed an issue while sitting in the front.

Here are my favorite stories.........

1 - Walking thru the airport to my gate, and I recognized a fellow pax I knew, who also happened to be a police detective. Asked him where he was going today, and he said nowhere, they were there on a last minute tip from Crimestoppers to arrest a dangerous felon who was skipping town on an Air Canada flight.

The 4 cops all sat on the flight within 2-3 seats of their target and when he sat down and stared to put his things in order they pounced on him, cuffed him up, and hauled him off the flight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazE8PAL-DE

2 - On the ground after boarding in the economy class cabin of a United flight from Rio to Houston (around 1100 PM) one of the Brasilian pax is arguing about his seating arrangements with the FA, demanding that he be upgraded for free to first class. The FA reached his professional limits and goes to get the head purser. They talk for about 2 more minutes, when the purser says to the pax in a very loud voice, "Sir, please give me your credit card and I will swipe it for $2,000 and move you upfront immediately, or sit down in your assigned seat. If you fail to do either in the next 10 seconds I will contact the police who will remove you from this flight and place you under arrest. As it is a weekend you will spend that in jail as there are no judges available until Monday".........we're till on the ground in Rio, so, remember the jail implication there..........and he stared counting out loud 10 - 9 - 8....etc......the dude sat down and shut up.

3 - Flying from Salvador to Rio.......lady directly in front of us was complaining the entire flight about feeling unwell to her seatmates, it seems that she ate street food in Salvador (usually a non starter, even for the locals as acaraje is like Drano if you are not used to it). As we are about 30 minutes out from GIG she runs to the bathroom and I can see her white pants covered with a large brown stain that is getting bigger by the second in the spot you can image.

All we can hear from the front lav is BBLLLAAAAAAAATTTTTT and then the smell got out into the cabin.......for the next 20 minutes on final approach the FA's sat in their front jump seats and did not appear to show any signs of discomfort, as the smell had permeated the cabin and, if you saw the movie Slum Dog Millionaire where the kid is in the bottom of the outhouse, you get the idea.

As we are taxing to the gate they opened up the front door to give us fresh air.

4 - Flying back from Paris to Rio in an Air France 747 the 10-12 year old girl in front of us suddenly screams at the top of her lungs and jumps up against the bulkhead. Her father beside her is puking a red liquid substance at high velocity into the seat back in front of him for like 30 seconds non-stop. Right out of a horror film.

He kept declining medical help but a doctor finally looked at him as we were in the middle of the Atlantic there was no aborting possible and it turns out he was just totally pissed drunk on red wine.

[swils8610]

Damn!! I once saw a guy have a seizure on a flight. The FA were very professional and asked if there was any doctors or nurses on board which there was. The seizure subsided and they kept a close eye on him until we landed.


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[Etschell]

Guy got kicked off my flight leaving san Juan for being too drunk. Delayed us 2 hours.

[BristolCavendish]

Back in the 1990s, I was on a domestic United flight and a young couple were in one of the restrooms apparently partaking in the 'mile high club'. A flight attendant (one of those older bags in their late 50s) started pounding on the restroom door and threatened to have them arrested/cited upon landing.

Considering that we were in mid-flight, I didn't perceive any endangerments to the crew or passengers. Just two people passing the time.

[Abdullah71601]

On a Delta DXB to ATL flight an older (50's) FA got into an argument with another FA during boarding and loudly proclaimed "it's your f***ing flight, I'm done for the night" and promptly sat down in an aft jump seat. True to her word, she didn't do a single customer interactive service the entire flight (15 hours). I did see her checking doors at the appropriate time, so she did the safety stuff, but wouldn't even acknowledge a passenger's presence throughout the flight.

I saw her on other trips. Apparently not doing your job doesn't get you fired.

[sea-dweller]

On a flight once from IAD (Dulles) to SFO, a passenger a few rows up from me was "passed out" and not moving. We asked a FA to check on him and after a few nudges, he woke up and vomited violently. The FA cleaned up the vomit and she learned that he had just arrived on a flight from Asia and became ill. The crew quickly moved him to the rear of the Boeing 777 to isolate him. The flight from this point on was uneventful, until we landed, where paramedics came on board to treat him.

[CLTRolex]

Great thread!!

[BravoOne]

Originally Posted by BristolCavendish

Back in the 1990s, I was on a domestic United flight and a young couple were in one of the restrooms apparently partaking in the 'mile high club'. A flight attendant (one of those older bags in their late 50s) started pounding on the restroom door and threatened to have them arrested/cited upon landing.

Considering that we were in mid-flight, I didn't perceive any endangerments to the crew or passengers. Just two people passing the time.

Probably posted by some 30 year old fat guy. Please don't think that 50's is old you whippersnapper.

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by BravoOne

Probably posted by some 30 year old fat guy. Please don't think that 50's is old you whippersnapper.

I'm not far but I'd love to respond...but your'e not worth the infraction points

[GradyPhilpott]

I tell you what I witnessed.

Back in the day, I witnessed quite a number flights full of people who were well-dressed and well-behaved, even though some might have had a drink or two, and the only real difference between coach and first-class was better food, more 'free' drinks, and more room.

It's not like that now.

Today, the only thing that flying has over taking the bus is maybe you'll get there faster by flying--if you're lucky.

[BristolCavendish]

Originally Posted by BravoOne

Probably posted by some 30 year old fat guy. Please don't think that 50's is old you whippersnapper.

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.

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

Back in the day, I witnessed quite a number flights full of people who were well-dressed and well-behaved, even though some might have had a drink or two, and the only real difference between coach and first-class was better food, more 'free' drinks, and more room. It's not like that now.

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.

[Rootbeer]

Loads of little things I guess:

1. Our flight from Southampton to Edinburgh was delayed due to the STN > Glasgow plane being grounded due to tech issues. So we had to take the Glasgow-bound folk on our flight. A lady passenger had been causing all sorts of fuss at the check-in desk and was really angry. When we boarded she was sat next to a very elderly man bound for Edinburgh. She spent the flight IMO maliciously convincing the flight crew the old man was sick and got him deplaned at Glasgow. I hope he eventually made it to Edinburgh to meet his family.

2. In the Philippines we were delayed at Caticlan airport for 6hrs due to technical problems with our plane. We watched the plane have absolutely nothing done to it while we awaited a replacement aircraft, then they changed their minds and loaded us onto the 'broken' plane anyway.

3. Coming back to NY from Orlando hit a hell of a storm over Virginia. Soup, coffee and Stewardesses hit the ceiling. Felt like a series of 200ft drops onto the ground and people were crying, praying etc. Enormous round of applause when we landed.

4. Back in 2003 I recall we had a lady pilot fly us back to the U.K. from Luxor. I only remember this because on the final approach she put Robbie Williams on very loudly on the PA system.

[Slippy Chips]

Greg Norman landed the 747 I was on once flying into Melbourne.

I grew up in Australia in the 80's, back when Greg was a god in Australia (still may be close to that). I flew back and forth between the US as an unaccompanied minor. They would move me up to an empty seat in first class (back when they had those) so I could be the first person off the plane.

Right after we touched down in Melbourne and were still taxiing Greg came down the stairs and talked with everyone in the lower 1st class about how the pilots had just let him land the plane. Apparently he did it all the time and was no big deal. He was a RAAF fitter pilot before being a famous golfer so maybe the big birds are easier...

[Maybelline]

Cool thread.

[james1787]

I don't have too much time in the skies and most of the flights I've been on have been quite uneventful.

A few moments that do stick out though... (in no particular order)

I flew into Detroit and after we landed we taxid all the way around to the other side of the airport. There was a pause for a moment, and then it did a quick turnaround and proceeded back to the opposite side. I could hear the flight attendants chuckling. I think I knew what was up... the pilot went to the wrong gate! Sure enough I heard the flight attendants still chuckling and talking about the pilots mistake as we de-boarded. I don't think many / any other passengers caught onto the error. Totally harmless and human.. I got a smile out of it.

I don't remember what flight this was on.. but we were awaiting to be pushed back from the gate when all of a sudden one of the bathrooms started having a 'problem'. A mysterious smelly liquid was oozing out of the bathroom. We switched planes due to a plumbing problem.

On a flight to Dublin, my wife and I sat next to a mom and her newborn baby. We were sitting in the bulkhead seats and while they were getting the airline bassinet setup.. this thing that sort of hangs on the bulkhead.. the mom asked me to hold her baby for a few moments. Adorable baby. The most amazing thing.. once in the bassinet, the baby didn't make a sound the entire flight! Not a peep until we landed.

[MILGAUSS88]

Well it was not in the airplane, but.....
It was 1992, I arrived at O'Hare and was leaving one terminal to catch a connecting flight at a different terminal.
As I went outside I saw a guy cleaning out a bottle of Vodka that had broken in his duffle bag...... next to his kilo of pot.
Just sitting there like "nothing unusual going on here."

[gmh1013]

On a flight from Boston to Phoenix...somewhere over Ohio a women who was waiting in line to use the restroom next to me had an "accident" the smell was so bad i almost had an accident...

Fight from Phoenix to Toronto we hit some bad weather over Kansas and dropped from 33000 ft to 18000 ft in a min?....landed in Kansas City....one of the flight attendant was hurt real bad... maybe broke neck and some passengers also. I had just sat back down from a potty break and 30 seconds later we dropped like a rock.

[texasmade]

Don't remember which flight it was specifically other than it was a United flight but a passenger went into diabetic shock while we were landing last year.

[Angrypuppy]

I've seen some ....

But I'm just here for the stories.

[cop414]

Originally Posted by Angrypuppy

I've seen some ....

But I'm just here for the stories.

I bet you have!

[AzPaul]

It was the summer of '76, I was just a teenager, and we were flying back to Minnesota for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. Turns out, the guy in the seat next to me was a professional hockey player, and he was wearing a big championship ring he had won with the Houston Aeros. I don't remember his name (wasn't into hockey at all back then) but I do remember him saying he was meeting up with his fashion model fiance' in Minneapolis and I found the combination of those two things pretty impressive. We talked for a bit , but he quickly threw down two or three drinks and slept through the rest of the flight.

[rouxeny]

I've seen a variety of medical emergencies. None which required diverting the plane or turning around. One was a guy who was dehydrated and fell, another a lady who didn't do well with the hypoxia from high altitude pressurization. One lady who couldn't breath. One arrhythmia. Nothing too bad.

The medical kits on the average airline don't allow you to do much.

[artschool]

cool thread. sad to say that I have nothing to add. all of my flights have been uneventful.

[Tri-Tip]

Originally Posted by artschool

cool thread. sad to say that I have nothing to add. all of my flights have been uneventful.

Ditto, fortunately.

[BravoOne]

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.

No question about the 50's, 60's and 70's was golden era of airline travel and more recently the ME airlines have injected some life into bygone era.

As for PSA, Braniff and Air Florida, I'm not sure what they had in common other a few good looking stews. certainly was not service so when use these airlines as example you need to define what you're really measuring:)

Also, the traveling public these days for the most part look and behave rather poorly, yet they are shocked when something like the recent UAL event occurs.

[august1410]

I have only flown a few times, but the most unusual thing I have seen while flying was our flight left on time and arrived at the destination on time. No waiting whatsoever.

[Boothroyd]

A gentlemen died, apparently of a heart attack, on a flight I was on in the mid-90's. As it was a short haul trip of less than an hour in the air, they continued to the destination, as this happened near mid-point in the flight.

The crew was extremely professional and there was a physician on the flight, but to no avail.This was in the time when flights were often not at capacity, and they gave him a row to himself. Everyone (passengers) were very respectful, and those nearby helped the flight attendants.

The poor guy suited up for a business trip like most of the flyers on that plane and had a real bad Monday. Felt so sorry for him.