Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

[ShaneCarroll]

Well, let me start by saying I HATE FLYING!! I would much rather drive to any destination. I know, I know, they say "you're safer in a plane." It seems like every time I turn on the news, there is another plane crash. Now we have the Hudson River collision. I just feel safer with both feet on the ground. It makes me feel somewhat in control of my own fate, if your plane is going down, you can't really do anything. So here's my story:

Last Friday, I was finally flying home after my newest three week stay in Lima, Ohio. I left my hotel at 7AM for the hour and 45 minute drive to the office, and they drove me to the airport. I got to the Toledo Airport (pretty much a one-man show, it looks like that movie 'The Langoliers') at 9 for a 10:20 flight. I go to the check-in machine and it says "your reservation could not be found, please check with attendant." Ok, no big deal, then she can't find my reservation. I give her my confirmation number, and it comes up under the name "Guest Traveller." Obviously, I can't get a boarding pass, so she says I have two minutes to resolve it or I'll miss my flight. My company booked the flight with American Express, and they dropped the ball on this one. Well, I get it resolved, and catch the 11:15 (16 minute) flight to Detroit. My original flight leaves Detroit at 1, but they won't let me on that one, so I gotta wait till 3. But they did upgrade me to first class. So we all board the plane, and right before we should be taking off, they say the co-pilot's chair won't adjust, so they kick us all off the plane for an hour to replace it.

So finally, we leave at 4:15 or so, headed to Tampa. The best part of the flight: FREE DRINKS!! I come stumbling off the plane at 7:30, when I should have been there at 4:30, but no harm no foul. At least it pushed my Monday flight back from 8:15AM to 5:30PM, and that's a whole different story. .

So how is everyone else's luck with flying? I still hate it, but at least the company paid for my tickets.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

My wife and I have pretty much given up on flying. It's just no fun anymore.

One short horror story. My family and I are flying back from a wedding at DisneyWorld. Get on plane in Orlando. On time. As usual, the plane is full. Hear the door close up front. But wait! They had let one last passenger on board just before closing the hatch.

She's appears to be south asian, but not sure. Wearing a long colorful dress. As she passes by she gives off this horrible body odor. Eyes water; people moan.

She keeps going. I guess she's near the back of the plane now. We hear someone cry, "Stewardess, water please!!"

Couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever sat around her on that flight.

It isn't so much the security; we've learned the ropes. It isn't so much the lack of food; we've learned to eat ahead of time. We can adapt to those things. But there's nothing we can do about the other passengers (rude behavior, smelly food, take forever in the head, etc, etc, etc). Like I said, it just isn't fun anymore.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I don't fly a whole lot but one time I did, we flew standby that was a nightmare and learned never to do that again I could have drove and got to my home an hour earlier than we did that night I adopted a new rule that night 12 hours or less we drive and never let anyone (FIL) give us his standby tickets

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

The thing I hate most is every time there is a screaming baby directly behind me! I think people do it just to annoy me. Sorry folks, but I hate babies. There is nothing cute about throwing up, dirty diapers, crying all night, etc.

I don't understand this changing flights thing, either. It is an hour drive from Toledo to Detroit, but my company makes me get to the Toledo airport an hour early, wait for those small hopper planes (which suck in turbulence), I cannot even stand up all the way in those things. Then I take the 16 minute flight to Detroit, and wait for three hours for my next flight. Just drive me straight to Detroit, and save some money, WTF?! I have a three hour layover going home on Fridays, and a 15 minute layover returning to Ohio on Mondays, this is the second time, I just did it three weeks ago. So from not flying in 10 years, I have been on 8 planes in three weeks.

So the return trip to Ohio yesterday: My plane was scheduled to leave Tampa at 5:30PM, well, it's 5:15 and no plane at the gate. Ok, I'll just indulge in some cervezas at the bar, so we board at 6, leave at 6:15, and of course, this dang baby is screaming directly behind me. "Mama, Mama!!" It lasted the whole three and a half hour flight (the pilots must have thought it was fun doing 20 figure eights in the sky), and I had to bite my tongue the whole flight so I didn't turn around and yell "shut that effin baby up!!."

So we land in Detroit, my flight is boarding in five minutes. I could have beaten Ussein(sp?) Bolt in a race through that airport last night. I get to my hopper as they are getting ready to shut the door, drenched from head to toe in sweat. I am a smoker, and when I say out of breath, I was gasping for air (incentive to quit, I know). So I made my flight, ok, now I can relax. Well then, I know the plane should be heading southwest, yet we're going southeast. Normally, it's a 16 minute flight, and a half hour into the flight, the captain comes on and says "we are avoiding a storm cell which should pass in a half an hour and we SHOULD have enough gas." SHOULD?! So now we're caught in a storm, everytime the plane makes a noise, I am freaking out, and now we may run out of gas?! I could have thrown down with the pilot on the spot for saying that. So we land at 11PM or so, I gotta pay $45 for a cab to Perrysburg, no more than 15 miles, and then I gotta drive in the storm for 75 miles to Lima, where my hotel is. So I get to the hotel at 1AM, and I have a voicemail saying I need to meet a contractor at 7AM. Can you say "delete?" Needless to say, I did not attend, and had they said anything, I may have blown a gasket. Luckily he cancelled anyways, but they declined to tell me until afterwards.

I want to just drive the 17 hours back and forth from now on. I hate planes, and my company does not pick the most convenient flights.

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Ok, here's mine. The year '97. I have no desire to fly. I have at that point three years sobriety. My girlfriend (now wife) has a cousin getting married and nobody wants to drive EXCEPT ME....I hate flying...well, they convince me to get on this stupid plane and the fun starts. We're cooped up in this glorified coffee can for an hour waiting for takeoff, then we get in the air. I am NOT happy. OH, before I go any further, let me say my seat is in the back next to the engine looking over the wing....I didn't find it plesant!
OK, so we're out over the Great Lakes and it starts raining......A LOT.....then we're getting ready to land at Detroit....actually that's not technically accurate....the PILOTS are getting ready to land....I am getting ready to DIE..

Now, I have been assured that what I am about to describe isn't physically possible.... and I sincerely hope that they know what they're talking about....
SO, the plane touches down....HARD!!! Actually, I think it kinda slammed down... that is not an exaggeration. The motors scream in reverse..Did I mention it was raining ? When I finally look out the window, over the wing ....remember, I am in the back of the plane....it looks like the plane is in about a thirty degree skid and OH GeeZZZ is that a river on the runway or really big puddles???
It took three people to pry me out of the seat.
The airport wasn't big enough to stop me finding a bar though......OH WAIT, YOU want me to get on another plane.....Yeah we still have to go from Detroit to Minneapolis-St Paul. How many beers can I drink between fligfhts ? BYE-BYE SOBRIETY.
Actually I can't complain about the flight to Mn. .....you understand.
So, we spend a week out there, no big deal, nice time , nice people, nice wedding, nice weather ( other than fog one night )....The day we are ready to fly back it starts to rain . (UH-OH) We get to airport with about two hours to kill, so we're sitting in one of those glass lobby things watching it rain. Yeah, I'm going to have a few drinks. It's really raining, and WOW there's some lightning.

Eventually, we get to board. Evidently, I must be slow or somebody has a cruel sense of humor....I get the window seat AGAIN. While we're waiting to take off I am watching the weather and it seems to be raining harder and maybe there's a little more lightning.
We finally start to Taxi to the runway and it seems like there's even more lightning. TAKEOFF....gee, there's an awful lot of lightning out there. I wonder what happens to a plane if it gets hit by lightning? There's really a lot of lightning !
I spent about twenty minutes in total panic........before I realized that in addition to the lightning......THERE'S A FRIGGIN' STROBE ON THE WING!!!!!!

NO, I don't like flying.

 

[JB]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I logged about 5000 hours as a Flight Radio Operator and Navigator all over the Pacific in the 50s. A few scary (not horror) stories, but they weren't the sort you are asking about.

I flew commercial a lot in the 60s and actually enjoyed it. Airlines treated you like customers back then.

No fear of being up in an aircraft, but: One commercial aviation horror story. My Dad died in Connecticut in 1990. Made reservations for #1 daughter and me to fly to Newark and arrive in plenty of time for the funeral.

The Airline cancelled the flight. We caught a later flight and arrived after things finished up at the Cemetery.

I did fly with the Love of My Life to Hawaii to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our Honolulu wedding, but except for that I have not flown commercial since Dad's funeral.

I will not turn over my comfort and schedule to people who not only don't care, but are fanatically preoccupied with whether I am a terrorist or not. I got better treatment from the people who portrayed my captors in POW Training.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Where to start???? Been flying for the last 4 years all over the US.
Snotty ticket counter/gate personell..
I connected in Atlanta from Ft. Myers...Flight was late leaving, departing flight 3 terminals across the airport..run to the gate as it's taxing away..
Told by the woman at the gate, well..thats what you get for being late!! WTH??
I am late because YOUR airline was late...

OR...
Being trapped in Philly due to an emergency landing..Outer window glass had a stress fracture...

OR
Spending the night in Denver, Co because of weather delays and missing my last flight out to L.A. (They do not pay hotel accomadations for "weather")

OR
paying $15 to $20 dollars to check ONE bag..yeah it's called EXCESS baggage fee....

OR
Sitting on the tarmac in Orlando for an hour and a half in a hot plane because a thunderstorm is inbound...

But my best story is a nice one...

I was travelling back from Utah..I had a nice exit aisle seat with lots of legroom..It was a full flight, not a spare seat anywhere..
This very pregnant woman boards and her seat was against the lavoratory (no recline feature) so I go offer to switch seats with her and give her some comfort...A nice stewardess noticed this and thanked me for being nice..

Well, on my connecting flight, they called me to the counter before boarding and evidently the stewardess on my last flight called the gate and told them I did a nice thing..long story short I ended up in first class for the 3 hour plus flight back home...

I take it all, the babies, the smells, the nickle & diming you to death, the security idiots,(I swear I could get more weapons on a plane than they could ever find) because it's part of my job, it sure beats unloading containers like I was doing 22 yrs ago..

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Air Tran Airways has yet to get me to my destination, either at all (left me in Atlanta, when I was scheduled to go to Orlando), or anywhere close to on time. THEY SUCK!!!!

As far as a horror story, well, which would you prefer?
1) the missed approach in Atlanta, where we had to take off at full throttle, when another plane came out on the runway in front of us as we were 20' from landing.
2) the multiple flyovers of Peoria airport while they visually confirmed our front nose gear was down or not, then being met by the fire trucks and guys in space suits?

OR

3) My pilot died, mid flight, Los Angeles to Minneapolis?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I generally fly from Detroit to either Narita or Osaka Japan and then on to Seoul, Korea about 4 or 5 times a year for business and twice a year to the Caribbean for vacation. Occasionally from Detroit to Birmingham, Alabama to our plant but more often drive that one.
Only potential horror story I have (other than dreadfully uncomfortable coach seats on the NWA Jumbo's) was years ago on my first ever trip to Asia when one side of the landing gear would not come up after take off. We flew around the great lakes for about 3 hours dumping fuel as we were too heavy to land again, then landed back in Detroit with the emergency vehicles chasing us down the runway just like on the movies !!! Boarded a replacement aircraft a couple of hours after that.
Needless to say I missed my connection flight from Narita to Seoul but NWA took great care of all of us that missed connections. I have since gathered enough frequent flier status to get exit row seats now and occasionally get bumped up to business class.
No other isses to date.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I fly all the time also and have about 100 000 kms under my wings this year alone.

The limburger cheese/onion bun sandwich eating lady who took two hours to eat her sandwich while she read her book...one tiny bite at a time was a doozy. The smell was so bad I don't know how she could eat it.

The Christmas flight season is always good for laughs as everyone in line is elderly and has way more packages than there is room on the plane (I travel very light), hearing every single person complain in line about excess baggage fees etc must be frustrating for the ticket counter folks...honestly have you people never heard of FedEx? Thats how I ship everything!

...or the lady at security check in Cleveland who was trying to smuggle her "personal" cutlery on the plane and had a hissy fit about not being able to bring it on, they actually shut the security line down with guards hands on the taser trigger while she had a temper tantrum saying this is the cutlery she has always used since she was a kid...blah...blah...blah. Thanks for making me miss my flight, they should have tased you for being an idiot and a spoiled brat. Why are they so ready to tase a man but not a woman? She was certainly deserving, tell me again why you absolutely had to have your knife, fork and spoon on the plane with you...security blanket?

Or how about the French passenger (from France not Quebec) who lugged his full size suitcase on the plane and spent the next 45 minutes arguing with the stewardess about not being able to keep his clothes on the seat next to him when the passenger who was seated in that spot couldn't sit down, I have never heard such nonsense in my life from a grown man...translated by his daughter no less! Too bad the stewardess didn't speak French like I do, because if she knew exactly what he said to her and what he called her she no doubt would have removed him from the plane and tossed his baggage onto the tarmac. A big thanks for making my flight over an hour late which caused me 3 hours of layover in Chicago, I really appreciate you making us miss our takeoff window as the nasty weather moved in which made us sit on the apron in line while the weather cleared before takeoff. I really like sleeping on the benches in Chicago at 4 AM.

A big wave has to go to the security personnel in Thunder Bay, Ontario for grilling me over the IC chip puller in my laptop bag when no other security agency has hassled me before over this small device...and completly missing the full plastic Olfa container of replacement box cutter blades next to it. You guys are really saving lives there...keep up the good work!

A great big thanks has to go to the security personnel who inspected my baggage at Winnipeg airport (after lying to me and saying it was sent on another flight) because I put my portable hard drive in my check-in baggage. Obviously they thought I was smuggling child pornography or sensitive Canadian security information on it because they disassmbled the drive and left all the screws half hanging out...they must have been pissed off enough at the fact they found only my MP3 music files on the drive because they destroyed the drive and it is now useless. I appreciate your enthusiam, guess I won't do that again huh!?

How about the security gents at Chicago who while I was on a 6 hour layover scanned me and my carry-on 5 times when I went outside for a smoke and a coffee as I waited for my flight. The fifth time was a charm as they pulled me aside and grilled me for half and hour over the contents of my shoes. I finally figured out what they were talking about when I realized I routinely fill the waffle pattern in the sole of my shoes with silicone under the insole (makes the shoes last 5 times longer and a lot more comfy)...why it took 5 times to catch that I don't know. No sense of humor those people.:redface:

I got a million of em, these are only the ones that stand out in memory. Happy flying folks!

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Right after 9/11, I flew from O'hare in Chicago, and they made me strip to my scivvies and socks before they let me in. I do have a tan, but come on, I don't think I'm that dark.

Once again, those pond-hoppers suck when it comes to turbulence.

Some lady spilt her red wine all over my laptop (company).

My last 8 flights in the past three weeks have all been NWA, they grill me about my computer, and security ALWAYS discards my shampoo and toothpaste and stuff. I don't understand that, what harm can toothpaste do?

The absolute worst thing is sprinting across some airport to the complete opposite corner to catch your connecting flight. I have made the mad-man dash across the Detroit Airport twice in the past three weeks. By the time I get to my gate, I pretty much need to be carried on in a wheel chair. I don't understand why Northwest does that. Their hoppers are in terminal C, and the big planes are 5 miles across the airport at terminal A. Why don't they just keep everything that close.

How about the people who swear their carry-on is small enough to fit, when there's like a foot of suitcase left hanging out of the overhead compartment?

Last night when I made it to the Toledo airport (finally), two of the people who work the control tower were down in the lobby screaming profanities at each other. Great, you guys can't get along but you're in control of landing these planes, with hundreds of lives in your hands. I seriously thought they were going to fight, one guy threw a clipboard at the other, they shoved each other a little bit, and I had to walk away.

If it weren't for the bars in airports, I for one would NEVER fly. You won't catch me on a plane sober. .

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Sure, plenty. Been flying in the USA for years, Central America For the past 8.
Worst is losing part of our family on flight 800. The boys who survived (not on the flighto Paris)and have been taken in by the rest of the family are doing great . Worst flight horror ever.

I just have to remember that when I'm stuck somewhere in a darned plane or airport....

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Sure, plenty. Been flying in the USA for years, Central America For the past 8.
Worst is losing part of our family on flight 800. The boys who survived (not on the flighto Paris)and have been taken in by the rest of the family are doing great . Worst flight horror ever.

I just have to remember that when I'm stuck somewhere in a darned plane or airport....

wow..makes all other flying issues very small and petty.
I do not think there will be any real closure over that incident, I feel for you and yours..

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Thanks Kev,
No real closure. Lots of reports, lots of "mis"information on the whole deal.

I've flown a lot since and when something goes wrong like a missed connection, plane maintenance, weather delay , whatever I just sit back and realize I've got it good thus far....As do we all....

 

[OldePharte]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Ya'll won't like flying back in the day. I used to get my butt flown from KC every summer to my grandparents Seattle in Seattle. KC to Denver, Denver to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Boise, Boise to Portland, and then Portland to Seattle. Never changing planes; just had to get off at every stop and reboard.

Strange story. I used to fly from KC to Central Wisconsin Airport. Back then CWA was an old time terminal with baggage claim being a roll up door with the luggage taken off the tram and placed by the roll up door. I had tickets for a one-stop on Braniff (loved the airline). I check in at KC for my flight. Seems that they changed gates and I had to go to the next one over. So I check in, they take my luggage, and the gate person asks if I want to get on the earlier flight. Okay, why not. So she does her thing on the terminal and hands me back by ticket and tells me to check in at the next gate. (the one I stopped at first) So I go and check in. We board almost immediately. Then I look and see that I have upgraded to first class. Woo hoo!. Then it hits me, my luggage is on the later flight. Oh well. When we arrive, I figure that I am going to have to wait a couple of hours, so I head towards the upper level restaurant. As I pass the baggage claim, I see this familiar looking bag sitting all by itself. They hadn't even unloaded the airplane luggage as yet. So I go take a closer look, and it is my bag!? WTF? How it got there, I haven't a clue.

I hate United - A number of years ago I needed to fly to San Mateo. Got a one-stop flight with the stop-over at Denver. No plane change. Good, as I hate that airport too. When we arrive, we are told that we must gather our belongings as we have to change planes. WTF? As we enter the terminal I hear an announcement that flight #whatever had just landed and passengers bound for (whatever) should get ready to board. They stole our plane!!! I move away from the gate a little ways and then hear an announcement that the flight bound for San Mateo has been delayed. Huh? Then I hear some people waiting for that flight moan and groan. I pipe up and tell them that I was on the flight to San Mateo and the other flight just stole our plane! That didn't settle too well. So we wait around for another 30 to 45 minutes (the other flight still hasn't loaded) and an announcement was made that the flight to San Mateo was canceled and we needed to rebook. Great! So a mad rush hits the gate desk and there are 4 agents trying to get everyone on other flights. I am the third one in the end agents line and when I get up to the desk she decides she is going home. I ask her what about those of us standing in line? She made the mistake of telling me to move to another line. I yell at everyone behind me that we have to move over as the gate agent is going home. That just about crossed the line of inciting a riot. With everyone screaming, a supervisor(?) comes over and asked if he could help me. So I ask him, how about getting me to San Mateo? And I let him know that I was on the flight to San Mateo and the other flight stole our plane. I also ask him why would anyone screw with 2 flights instead of 1? No good answer. He says that another plane is coming in and I could get on that one in about 2 hours. No biggie, I don't have to get to San Mateo until the next morning anyways. So he hands me my ticket and I move out of the way. The other flight still hasn't loaded. About 30 minutes later, I hear the announcement that the flight to San Mateo has arrived and will be loading shortly. Huh? Sure enough, people are off-loading, and they call for boarding. Since I didn't give two hoots, I scanned my ticket and boarded with the high mileage folks. The other flight was still sitting there. When we backed away from the gate, that plane was only a third full. It was a full flight before their screw up.

Side rant - What is it with people whose flights get canceled or delayed and then bellyache with the alternative itinerary? I have listened to these idiots when the gate agents are trying to get them to their destinations and they say, "No I don't want that one", "No I don't like that airline", "Why would I want that connection", etc. I got stuck behind one of these cretins for over 45 minutes who didn't seem to want any alternative offered.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I started flying as a kid in the 50s on planes like the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC6. I always loved it when they started those old, smoke belching "round engines" up!

By the age of 18, I had begun flight training and was in the USCG, flying rescue missions as a crewman. By the age of 24, I had completed flight training as far as Certified Flight Instructor. I never did take the check ride for it though, because I decided that I wanted to go straight to management.

Why? Because of one of the reasons why y'all suffer the things that you do as passengers - the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. It is the law that deregulated many aspects of the industry, including who could provide service to airports in the U.S. It is also the law that allowed an explosion of new airlines and commuter carriers. Think in terms of People Express, American Eagle, Delta Connection, etc.

For a long time, the Act was a good thing. You could get better fares and fly to places that never had service before. Heck, People Express was so cheap that I used to pay to fly with them sometimes, rather than get on my own airline for free! As economics weeded out most of the carriers, however, things began to get crappy. Less competition, airlines trying to cut corners, and so on. When I was getting ready the enter the business in 1978, I saw the handwriting on the wall. I pretty much figured that constant layoffs, a change in pay structure that would take a once dynamite job into the realm of poverty stricken, glorified bus driver, would happen. And it did.

Add to the mix, the reality of airline security in the post 9/11 world, and I'd rather drive most of the time. I don't fly much any more and am very glad that is true.

BTW - the ARFF trucks (Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting) will follow you down the runway any time the pilot even hints of a potential problem. Its standard procedure. They also don't foam the runways any more, because it doesn't do much of anything except make you slide further. Don't worry about gear up landings either - I've seen more than I can remember and the only folks I ever saw get hurt as a result, were injured from the trip down the slide. The actor Chris Reeves even landed his Beechcraft Baron "gear up" one night. He forgot to do his "GUMP" check (gas, undercarriage, mixture, prop) on final and bent his airplane! His worst bruise was the $120,000 check he had to write for a couple of new engines and props, 'cause when the engines are developing power and you "prang it," the tips curl and the crankshafts break!

On the Hudson River collision, IMO the blame being put on the controller is hogwash. I know TEB well and have personally flown aircraft down the VFR corridor on multiple occassions. The helo that hit the Piper Cherokee came up from 30th street heliport (on the west side of Manahattan) and the TEB guy didn't know about it, until after the collision ocurred. The simple fact of the matter is that the pilots in VFR (visual flight rules) airspace are responsible for their own separation and they didn't see one another until the last second.

As for the phone call to the GF, he didn't dial her up on a land line. She works in the Operations Office at the airport and he called her on a "drop line" to talk about a dead cat that was on the airport. They exchanged a few non-business related words, while he was not handling a movement. This goes on every single day, many, many times a day, at every ATC controlled airport in the world. He could have just as easily punched another button to talk to the NY TRACON on another drop line, to talk about something. Having the NTSB and the FAA go after the controller immediately is typical. They do it all of the time.

The only aircraft that I ever flew in down the Hudson River VFR corridor, that made me feel almost completely safe, is "the" (there are actually a number of them) Goodyear Blimp. The simple fact of the matter is that they are so big, that its pretty hard not to see them and crash into them as a result.

These days, my idea of fun in an "airplane" would be like those wildlife research guys, who have geese flying in formation with them, along side an "ultralight!" Now that, would be cool!

 

[mike64]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Yeah, flying commercial is miserable these days. The handful of times my wife and I have flown together, the funny thing is she's always singled out for a full search and I never am. One time we were flying with our 3 month old at the time. She was carrying him in one of those "papoose-type" baby- holder things that strap around your shoulders. Sure enough, she's singled out, gets the wand, has to take her shoes off, all with our baby strapped to her.

The worst flight I ever had was a business flight back to Detroit from New Jersey. I'm a nervous flyer-- I have a vivid imagination that causes me to envision anything that could possibly go wrong. First the flight was delayed a couple hours because of a big storm outside of Detroit. When we finally boarded we had to wait another hour or two because we were so backed up on the runway-- you could see a loooong row of planes ahead of us. The couple drinks I had in the airport bar for "liquid courage" were long ago worn off. When we finally got into the air we went through the worst turbulence I have ever experienced, because of the remains of the storm. I was looking down the aisle of the plane and I could literally see the overhead bins moving around from the entire plane twisting and flexing. I was flying with my boss, who was looking pretty green. Even the girl sitting on the other side of me, who claimed she was a veteran flyer and had experienced "everything" was looking pretty shook up. I did see the most freakin' amazing purple and gold sunset of my life out of the plane window, probably also from the aftermath of the storm.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I flew to Poland a month back and the movie they were playing on the plane was "the Hanna Montana Movie"

Theres a horror story for ya right there........

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I don't know why I'm reading this thread. I got a flight booked in November to fly to my home town. This will be my first time ever on a plane. LOL.

I had to add this story. It's true. A musician travelling from Halifax to the states via United Airlines had his guitars broken on the tarmac. He couldn't get any satisfaction from United so he made a video up of his troubles. Too funny, over 5 million hits so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I flew to Poland a month back and the movie they were playing on the plane was "the Hanna Montana Movie"

Theres a horror story for ya right there........

Now that is funny! Well, I was supposed to take my little ones to a Jonas Bros concert, and I had to explain to a 4 and 6 year old why I wouldn't take them. I don't beat around the bush, so I told them straight up, "they are terrible, in 10 years you'll look back and say WTF was I thinking wanting to go to that concert." Hey, sometimes the truth can be harsh, but I wouldn't lie to the kids.

I am making it up to them by taking them to a Snoop Dogg concert. Just kidding. I told them I'd take them to see Disney on Ice, ONLY if alcohol, preferably hard liquor is served there.