Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

[OldePharte]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

ya gotta love the TSA. The last time we flew (and I mean last time as we will drive from now on) they wanded her. Not unusual, but they had her stand on one foot while they wanded her bare feet! What an idiot.

Nor a horror story for me, but in October after 9/11 we flew to Cayman Islands. Coming home after 10 days, the Cayamni airport security was beefed up and everyone had to pay $20 cash American dollars to leave. It "paid" for the bag inspection. There were a handful of people who had been living on the beach and had to beg for the $ to fly back home. They checked every bag before us and after us as far as we could tell, but waived us straight thru with no check. Go figure, maybe karma was on our side.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Jay thanks for some insider info. And all the rest of you, you are talking about normal inconveniences of flying. Didn't you see the part where I said my PILOT DIED in mid-flight?

That's HORROR, not annoyance!

 

[lowkee]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

I think my worst was being caught in turbulence so bad I (between holding onto something) had my cell phone out and ready to make that last "I love you" call.

Flying in the late 90's was painless. The whole terrorist paranoia made flying the hell it is now. Once the airlines realized people will still fly being treated like a terrorist they decided why bother treating them like customers at all. Cattle are much cheaper to transport.

I think JB summed it up nicely..

[Airlines] 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.

I just don't travel very far anymore. Luckily for me, I traveled plenty when it was still fun, so I don't feel I'm missing out.

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

Ditto. I don't think I flew a single flight without at least one drink in me. I had the timing down to a science at one point. I could order a drink, drink it, and be sleeping until near landing. I would purposely deprive myself of sleep the night before in order to successfully pass out on the plane. Thinking back on all of that, it makes me feel like a moron to have ever willingly flown on a plane, putting myself through that trauma. Heck, job interviews are more fun that flying.

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Jay thanks for some insider info. And all the rest of you, you are talking about normal inconveniences of flying. Didn't you see the part where I said my PILOT DIED in mid-flight?

That's HORROR, not annoyance!

Was that recently? I think I remember hearing about that on the news a couple months ago. Did he have a heart attack or something?

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Thank the Lord you werent sitting next to THIS (insert adjective of your choice)


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32497388#32506711

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Was that recently? I think I remember hearing about that on the news a couple months ago. Did he have a heart attack or something?

No, several years ago, before 9/11. Might have been September of 2000 as a matter of fact. But yep, 53 year old Northwest Airlines Captain, got up to use the bathroom, and never came back. Dead, heart attack.
Nothing wakes you up or gets your attention more than this:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the co-pilot speaking. I have turned on the fasten seat belt sign, and am asking you to return to your seats immediately. We have a member of the flight crew ill, and I ask that you sit down and be quiet until this is resolved. Thank you. (pause for about 5 seconds here)
If there is a Doctor on board, please report to the flight deck."
!!!!!!!

 

[mike64]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Jay thanks for some insider info. And all the rest of you, you are talking about normal inconveniences of flying. Didn't you see the part where I said my PILOT DIED in mid-flight?

That's HORROR, not annoyance!

Yeah, TilliamWe, you do win the thread as far as horror stories go! I went back to your original post to see why I didn't notice that little fact about the pilot dying the first time around, and saw you made that no. 3 on your list of airline horrors. Who reads to #3 on a list anymore? No wonder nobody noticed it

I think it says a lot that in a thread about "flight horor stories" there's more stories about the gauntlet getting through security than it is the actual flights

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

saw you made that no. 3 on your list of airline horrors. Who reads to #3 on a list anymore? No wonder nobody noticed it

I was trying to build suspense to my biggest horror story!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

Well, I'll give y'all a laugh. I once emptied an entire terminal over a certain device in a suitcase that had accidentally turned on. Apparently, something hit the switch when the baggage guys were "ever so gently handling" the suitcase, after arrival of the aircraft.

Let's just say that this certain item was lying up against the inner shell of a hardshell suitcase and was making the entire bag "buzz." If you think about it for a minute, you'll probably figure out what that "object" was.

Ever seen a bunch of cops, several bomb squad members, an airport manager, an airline terminal manager and a fire crew, emit a collective sigh of relief and then crack up laughing, as the nature of an "offending object" such as this has been revealed? It was an interesting day, to say the least!

BTW, toilet paper hanging out the back of someone's pants, because they exited a public bathroom in a hurry, after a PA announcement to immediately evacuate the building, looks really funny!


PS: I suppose this story qualifies for an airline related horror story for the owner of the bag, who had to claim it after everything calmed down!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Anyone Have Any Flight Horror Stories?

2 here,

I was running late for a flight and checked my bags at the curb. As I was hurrying off the attendant said "thanks you Mr Fishrdan I'll be handling your bags from here on out". I turned and said thanks when I was 2-3 steps away. 1/2 way to the gate it dawned on me that the guy was hinting for a tip ($$$). When I arrived at my destination I know he was hinting for a tip since my bags didn't arrive and wouldn't be there until the morning. Some how, the bags went to LA when I flew to Oakland...

I was down in the Virgin Islands and after boarding we were informed the plane had a oil leak which need repairs... After a few hours the oil leak is fixed and we boarded, but all of the connecting flights were gone. When the airline informed us that we would be flown to Miami and then put up in a hotel until the following morning, a passenger from Miami advised us of the hurricane that when through a month earlier and we would be hosed staying in Miami. All the passengers pitched a fit, so the airline put us up in a hotel for the evening. Boy that sucked, being stuck in paradise for another day...