Have you ever witnessed anything on an airplane?

[dish rag]

I fly several times a month and never really have other than the usual young mother letting her free range children roam the plane, the FA gives her a warning and she gets offended. That's about it. Also noticing on every single flight there is at least one dog or cat in the passenger section. But we were talking the other day and some friends have really witnessed some outrageous situations. An infectious disease MD friend once had one the same flight to S. America have to make two medical emergency landings on the way down that he had to deal with, a heart attack and a woman go into labor very early and unexpectedly. I think the stops were in Jamaica and Panama. The airline compted him very nicely. One witnessed a man have a heart attack and fall over dead. The usual stories about drunks being arrested and so forth. Folks with diarrhea and so forth. Any stories?

 

[Branflakes]

I can't think of anything off hand. Other than the usual bad travel etiquette. Poor hygiene, enough perfume/cologne to choke a horse, free range chickens as you mentioned.

I once flew to Paris and was just over the man next to me in the first 5 minutes. Connecting in ATL, lucky enough to fly first class, which would have been a really nice treat, but I sit next to this man who reeked of cigarettes, booze and copious amounts of cologne. He drank and ate like a Neanderthal. Or maybe a goat. He was the loud obnoxious guy everyone in the cabin can hear. Talking nonstop about how amazing he is. For hours on end. NO ONE was getting a moment of peace and quiet. Upon approach at CDG, this boob pulls out his "bag of tricks", and proceeds to spray himself with yet another layer of cologne, and sprayed me in the process.
I was so done with his behavior, just as my mouth was opening to let him know just how grateful I was, the man sitting in the aisle seat across from me, had had enough and got verbal with him. I just leaned back and smiled.
The flight attendants, couldn't really do anything about it, he was just "that guy" and I was apparently on HIS flight.
When I met my husband in the airport he asked me if I was wearing HIS cologne by mistake!

 

[kimblebee]

Years ago my brother broke a plane and made everyone have to Deboard and get on another plane LOL

It was before the flight took off and he was fiddling with the air 'thing' (sorry, it's early) and the whole panel came down. Maintenance was called and after about 45 minutes they said they couldn't fix it and the plane couldn't take off with that piece broken.

It took a while to get a new plane and to get everyone back on board. It was a flight from LA to Sydney (17-18 hr flight) so it made for a looooong day.

We still bug him about the time he broke the plane.

 

[mnrose]

Nothing terribly unusual. On a flight from Singapore to San Francisco (1 hour stop in Hong Kong for refueling), the guy next to me was clearly three sheets to the wind as he boarded (really drunk and obnoxious). He was barely seated when the he called for the purser to complain about the "horrible" conditions on the plane. He proceeded to loudly berate the purser, then after he left, he turned to the flight attendant. I was frankly shocked they allowed him to continue on the flight. He told me that "Singapore Airlines is the worst in the world. Air Somali is better." LOL. He continued to drink (and complain) for the 3.5 hour flight to Hong Kong, and was continuing to San Francisco. As soon as got off in Hong Kong to stretch our legs, I BEGGED customer service for a switch to ANY available seat. There was no way I was going to go for 15 MORE hours of him.

 

[lorimay]

No thankfully, I'm a nervous flyer.

 

[aprilgail]

only thing I ever saw was bad behavior- and way to much of the laptop of the guy across the aisle who was watching porn on it!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Nothing exciting at all. Just once I want to be seated next to a turkey or something!

 

[antmaril]

Never.

 

[wilkeliza]

Don't think I've seen anything too outrageous.

One trip in business class the FA had to cut off a pair of girls from the free booze. They upgraded the friend for free (not sure if they actually did or friend wouldn't move) and the pair drank like it was speing break. They got so rowdy and loud they FAs said they didn't settle down they would be met by Atlanta PD at the gate.

Another time I'm sure people though I was the crazy passenger. We were returning from our family trip in PR and i had my backpack up to and purse by my feet like I always do. Well the FA yanks my backpack from the overhead and throws it on the floor saying this is a personal item whoever it belongs to you are stealing over head bin space as only 1 item is allowed up top. It was late and we had just gone through a lengthy delay so instead of desling with the FA on a 3/4 level I went straight to 7/8. I yelled that is my carry on, i'm not stealing as that is the only thing I have up there, and if my macbook is broken I'll make sure the airline makes you persobally pay for it. The FA got into my face so the fiance got involved and lets just say he refused to serve our section after that. I wrote the airline and the credited us some miles and said they would retrain that FA. Crazy thing is on a flight back from Orlando last week we saw it happen to someone else. Luckily that FA didn't yank it from the bin and throw it to the floor just assumed an backpack meant personal item.

 

[dish rag]

Don't think I've seen anything too outrageous.

One trip in business class the FA had to cut off a pair of girls from the free booze. They upgraded the friend for free (not sure if they actually did or friend wouldn't move) and the pair drank like it was speing break. They got so rowdy and loud they FAs said they didn't settle down they would be met by Atlanta PD at the gate.

Another time I'm sure people though I was the crazy passenger. We were returning from our family trip in PR and i had my backpack up to and purse by my feet like I always do. Well the FA yanks my backpack from the overhead and throws it on the floor saying this is a personal item whoever it belongs to you are stealing over head bin space as only 1 item is allowed up top. It was late and we had just gone through a lengthy delay so instead of desling with the FA on a 3/4 level I went straight to 7/8. I yelled that is my carry on, i'm not stealing as that is the only thing I have up there, and if my macbook is broken I'll make sure the airline makes you persobally pay for it. The FA got into my face so the fiance got involved and lets just say he refused to serve our section after that. I wrote the airline and the credited us some miles and said they would retrain that FA. Crazy thing is on a flight back from Orlando last week we saw it happen to someone else. Luckily that FA didn't yank it from the bin and throw it to the floor just assumed an backpack meant personal item.

Not defending the FA but it is amazing how many people on every flight just don't listen to instructions, line up to board when they aren't supposed to, try to bring on too large of luggage, sit in the wrong seat and so forth. It's like all thought leaves them once they enter the airport.

 

[prprincess]

Not scary behavior, but rude/annoying.

On my way back from Italy a group of three older teenaged boys started blasting loud, obnoxious techno music through a set of speakers they carried on. They were with their parents, who never said a word to them about turning it off or down. The flight attendants also looked hesitant to say anything, and finally did after several of us complained. After the music turned down, they were still loud and obnoxious, even walking around like nothing. I doubt if anyone on that airplane got any rest!!

 

[Magpie]

A middle-aged lady once fainted on one of my flights. She was crying loudly when she came to. I got the impression, once everything settled down, that it wasn't anything medically serious - perhaps just anxiety.

And my daughter and I still joke about the transatlantic flight from the UK to Canada, which features THREE babies in our section, one in front, one across and one behind. There was Angry Baby, Tiny Baby, and Whiny Baby. Every time Tiny and Whiny stopped crying, Angry would cut loose with a loud yowl. This would frighten the other two and start them up again. While they cried, Angry was always quiet. We eventually concluded that Angry was deliberately trying to keep the other two crying.

It was a loooong flight!

 

[kamik86]

The guy that drank way too much... worse it was a miltary honor flight so there were alot of service people in uniform and this guy was military, when the flight attendants couldn't do much and he got really disrespectful one of the other guys game in and really tore into him and he finally just went to sleep.

A few times I have seen doctors called but never for anything serious... I was near one of them and I know why they did, she was all stuffed up so the pressure was in her head really bad (been there several times) and it really does feel like your head is going to explode... and that maybe that would be a good thing because it wouldn't hurt anymore.

I have seen a few small debates over seats, and other little things... had to deplane once due to mechanical issues once we were already on board and switch planes (a whole bunch of people were grumbling about that to no end... seriously would you rather them fly with it like that?). Almost had a flight redirected due to not having enough fuel to circle for the number of waiting planes (backed up due to a snowstorm) but they moved us to the front of the line...

 

[wilkeliza]

Not defending the FA but it is amazing how many people on every flight just don't listen to instructions, line up to board when they aren't supposed to, try to bring on too large of luggage, sit in the wrong seat and so forth. It's like all thought leaves them once they enter the airport.

I totally get that but at the same time in customer service positions you have to learn to deal with it and not take someone's bag and slam it to the floor because you assume they aren't listening or following instructions. I sat in the right seat, boarded correctly, and only had 2 items.

 

[SC Minnie]

A couple of years ago I was on a flight from Louisville to Charlotte with a connection in Cleveland coming back from a business trip. On the leg from Louisville to Cleveland a guy 2 rows in front of me starts to have a seizure. His friend was sitting across the aisle from him and said the guy had his medication in his checked bag. The guy was seizing so bad a pilot sitting as a passenger and another passenger was trying to restrain him so he wouldn't hurt himself. The guy sitting beside him climbed mover seats and people to get out of the way. The seizure was so violent the seatback was broken and lying flat. As soon as we started to land he stopped. I have never seen a plane get to a gate so fast. Medics came on board and helped the guy off and they were treating him at the gate. I heard him say he was fine and didn't want to be transported to the hospital.

Another flight DH and I was going from Charlotte to MCO. We were in the first row of first class. We heard from commotion behind us but couldn't tell what was going on. A FA came up front talking to another FA about a passenger that wouldn't move-- I don't know if he wasn't in the correct set or what. Apparently the passenger stood up at some point and 'bumped' the FA. She called for security and the guy was 'escorted' off the plane. He didn't go quietly either. (wasn't dragged by his arms but he was shouting and wearing handcuffs).

 

[rastahomie]

Never.

On the ground at St. Louis, however, I saw a guy raise all kinds of hell. Long story short, the flight was overbooked and the gate agents were trying to sort things out as best they could. When it came my turn to talk to the agent, I was polite and respectful and basically said that I wasn't planning on walking to Orlando, so if I had to take a later flight then so be it. Not long afterwards they called my name and gave me and Mrs. Homie our boarding passes: First Class! I like to think we got Angry Jerk's seat.

 

[melanielll]

I was on a flight where someone died. He had a heart attack. They tried to save him, but failed. The flight was full, so there was no place to put him. They kept him in a seat with a blanket over him. Two flight attendants sat on his row on that side of the aisle. The people in those seats got the jump seats. This was years ago - passengers sitting in jump seats is probably illegal now.

On a less grim note - on another flight - we took off, took that first turn...and one of the luggage compartments hadn't been shut properly. Something fell out, hit a man in the head. We had to turn around and land to get him on an ambulance.

Also - we were taxiing towards the runway on another flight. The captain was giving his welcome aboard speech. He mentioned the weather in our destination city - Atlanta. A man jumps up and yells, "Atlanta?!?" Yep - on the wrong plane. We had to drive back to the gate to let him off.

Also - we were getting ready to land in Baton Rouge when the power went out at the airport. Rather than have us land on backup power systems, they rerouted us to New Orleans and took us by bus to Baton Rouge.

On a funny note - we were leaving Orlando and were on a flight packed with high school cheerleaders (Gah!) coming from a competition. The flight takes off. When it makes one of those sharp turns that they make during take-off - one of the girls screams, "We're going down!" Half the plane was immediately filled with screaming, sobbing teens wearing grosgrain ribbons. That was memorable.

I was in a near miss on the ground at the Dallas airport. Another plane chose to land on the runway where we were taxiing.

The moral of all of this - if you see me boarding a plane you are about to board, make alternative plans as quickly as possible.

This is why I now drive to Disney.

 

[georgina]

I was on a Friday night flight home from MCO once on SW. It was oversold and I had volunteered to get bumped, but 3 guys in the back started a fight over seats and they were all thrown off. So no SW vouchers for me!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We fly a lot, so over time we've seen some stuff. My "favorite" is the flight on Southwest where, at the last minute, a grumpy pilot from another airline got on the plane as a passenger. He huffed and puffed over to a seat, opened up the overhead compartment, started roughly shoving someone's belongings around and generally making a nuisance of himself. The Southwest pilot threw him off the plane - his passengers and flight attendants were not going to be treated that way. Take that, United!

 

[Vijoge]

My ears fill up at take off and I can't hear a thing the whole flight. And I'm short, so I can't see over the back of the seat in front of me. There's probably a whole lot happening, but I can't see or hear it.