Flying Horror Stories

As it's almost Christmas, and many people like me, and many very unlike me, will be flying home for the festive season, what's the most terrfying thing you've experienced while flying?

trying to guess what the mystery meat is. No real horror stories here, nothing much phases me while in the air. You have to suspend your disbelief that anything bad will happen. I'm a pro when to comes to skirting reality.

All I remember getting on flights are those little bags of nuts.

still give you "meals". Not a meal in the traditional sense mind you, but something that could loosely be described as such.

At least a drink and a cookie is still served on most non-discount flights. Even if the flight takes less than an hour.

I love it, theres always some nice vegetables, nice meat, potato etc.. damn I love it. I always get to eat my sisters and my moms food too

but I would always pack a lunch when I flew. That way if I don't get a meal (that I like), I'm covered.

I will be flying next Fall when I take my family to Disney in Florida.

Cheers
Drifter

No lines either.

That was on board an Air-Berlin "shuttle".

Coming out of Chicago early morning, heading for San Francisco and a weather front sprang up around us. They tried going up and down and around it but it was no use. The flight attendents were strapped in for most of the trip. That meant no food, snacks or beverages and those who needed potty breaks were bounced around pretty good. The flight was almost full. They told us if the head wind did not die down we were going to have to go into Phoenix and refuel. That was not the scary part. I was in the very back and two flight attendents were trading horror stories and one had one that was anything but reassuring....Coming over the mountains from California and landing in a city, I forget which one, the plane was being buffeted and hit a wind shear. The beverage cart was thrown up to the ceiling and came down on both a passenger and a flight attendent (who also went up and came down.) The flight attendent didn't survive. Figured they had some resentment for us they had to work out and took the opportunity as it was presented.

Then there was Southern Airways about 1970 from Atlanta to Anniston, Alabama. I swear the engine kept stalling on the side I was on. Luckily it kept restarting. There was a comedian who did a bit a short time after on TV. "Southern Airlines where the pilot sells you your ticket....The plane taxi's to the end of the runway, stops and everyone gets out and gets on a greyhound." (Might have been George Wallace, the comedian not the governor.)

The joke was "Welcome to Air Grits. We'll be flying at an altitude of 500 feet so the pilot can do a little crop dusting." :-)

It took 45 minutes to fly from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta.

1968.
I was in my initial training with TWA. Trying to get from Kansas City to Birmingham for a surprise week-end visit with my fiancee.

We were in a DC-3 (C-47) and I was sitting right next to the left engine. On take-off I noticed an oil slick forming on the wing behind the engine. I notified a cabin attendant. She didn't seem to be too concerned.

North of Huntsville, the engine coughed a few times, then stopped with the prop feathered. Pilots said nothing. I call the c/a over.
"Hey, looks like we've lost the left engine."
"OH SHIT!"
We land in Huntsville. Still no word from the pilots until we're taxiing in.
"Ah...folks...ah...we had a little engine problem and have landed at Huntsville, Alabama."
End of ride. We're on our own.
I and 3 other guys rent a car and make the 2 hour drive to B'Ham.

Very windy day, and the approach in that little turboprop was the ROUGHEST I have ever expeienced! Actually thought I was gonna have to grab the little bag...They flew the Base Leg as a diving turn onto the runway, just like a sailplane. Unsettling.

But flying over the atlantic and the plane bumping is pretty scary for my taste

Now you're lucky if the Gorbechev look-alikes will throw you a bag of peanuts and a thimble of coffee.

The most terrifying thing I ever witnessed was a Gary Coleman inflight movie.

I was drunk, my coonection had left, I was irate. The cops told me to sit down, shut up and wait for my next connection. Never tell airport security. " It is no wonder why people carry guns into airports".

Around 1993.

DDQM

It was for winter training.

You remember that old Army commercial "we do more before 9am than most people do all day"? They forgot to tell you that "we start at 2am." Which is when I was on the flightline at Campbell Army Airfield. The snow was whipping around, the lights were illuminating the six C-141s we were using...I still think that was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

The mission was pretty simple: load four vehicles onto each plane, load troops alongside the vehicles, fly to Griffiss AFB, New York, then drive to Fort Drum to freeze for two weeks before going back home. We loaded up and were wheels up by noon.

About ten minutes into the flight, we discovered that someone forgot to inspect the cargo straps holding down the jeep I was using as a footstool, because they started to tear. Someone crawled over all the shit in the middle of the aisle, found the loadmaster and got him to ask the aircraft commander to ask the passengers for unused cargo straps over the intercom. Fortunately, the last vehicle loaded was towing a howitzer and they had a whole box of unused cargo straps. We got four--if the back ones were getting ready to go, the front ones were probably in bad shape too--and re-secured the jeep.

Then we hit bad weather. The plane would hit updrafts and downdrafts and air pockets and bounce up and down every time it did. I never saw anyone puke on an airplane before then. Haven't since, either.

When we got to Griffiss, the aircraft commander informed us that the runway was "fogged in and may be icy, so we're going to use all the braking power at our command to make sure we stop." The runway was fogged in and dry as a bone and we stopped so fast we got bruises from slamming against our seat belts, the other passengers and various parts of the plane.

The runway may have been dry, but the place they parked the plane wasn't; when Lieutenant Bianchi got off the plane, he put his foot on a patch of ice. Foot went forward, lieutenant went down...he wasn't hurt but everyone was amused. Including him.

The trip back is a tale for another day.

... during the climb. The captain then flies the plane in circles around the harbor dumping fuel, most of which seems to get sucked back into the plane, making everyone sick. When we were light enough we landed again. Seems we were up there for almost an hour and never seemed to travel more than 15 miles from the airport.

My grandparents flew single engine planes and they used to have one. When I was 7, I was going with them on a short flight and threw up all over my grandpa. We had to ride another hour in this little plane that stunk to high heaven. Oh yes, I have a weak stomach, but I always seemed to never quite fully puke my guts out in bigger planes. My grandma just liked to do these ariel tricks and then I'd loose my lunch.

some years ago in the middle of winter. As we took off from O'Hare some big chunk of ice hit the wing and the pilot was unsure if the flaps had been damaged. Because the plane was heavy with fuel we had to burn off fuel, but insted of returning to O'Hare we flew on to Toronto which was having a blizzard. We arboted the first landing attempt a few 100 ft from the runway... suddeny went to full power and banked out.

We finaly landed just as the Airport was being closed. The entire plane (a 747) was being buffeted by the wind gusts while sitting on the ground. They couldn't get anyone to inspect the wings because of the high winds so we spent the night in Toronot.

BTW I was istting directly behind Roger Ebert on the flight. His show was still on PBS at the time, (not sure if it was national or not though) and not as well known as he is now, but I knew who he was.