Strangest experience on an Airplane?
Apr 10th, 2002, 08:45 PM
#21
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My strangest experience was on an Olympic Airways flight from Athens to Corfu. I had flown in from San Francisco (via London) so by the time I got to Athens I was dead tired.<BR><BR>I arrived at the OA counter only to be told the flight was delayed (no suprise seeing it was Olympic Airways) for 1 1/2 hours. Arriving at the gate 30 minutes before boarding we were told that the flight was again delayed another hour. By this time it was getting late and jet lag was starting to get the better of me. Finally after three hours a huge cheer erupted in the waiting lounge as OA announced the flight was ready to board.<BR><BR>We boarded the flight only to sit on the tarmac, in Greece, in 100 degree heat, without air conditioning for another 45 minutes. Sardines in a can would adptly describe the feeling. The flight attendants FINALLY -- only after an Italian woman fainted -- started passing out thimble sized cups of water. Numerous passengers were crowded at the door of the plane trying to get some fresh air. After a while the captain announced that everyone had to get off of the plane and go back into the terminal -- pandemonia broke out as passengers standing around the door tried to get back to their seats to collect their belongings while the rest of the passengers were trying to go forward to get off of the plane. After a human traffic jam (that seemed to last forever and reminded me of driving in Athens) we were off loaded into a bus and dumped back in the terminal.<BR><BR>By this time we are over 4 1/2 hours late and tempers in the heat were starting to get the best of people. After being in the terminal for (I kid you not) 5 minutes OA announced the "the problem is fixed, you can all reboard". Well some of the greeks in the crowd went ballistic and started fist fighting with the OA counter staff. Punches were exchanged, the police came running, passengers were arrested and I was left standing there in my jet lagged induced haze wondering if I was an extra in a David Lynch movie.<BR><BR>
Apr 10th, 2002, 11:49 PM
#23
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Sandy wins...<BR><BR>Houston - Paris on Continental. We were delayed, took off, and then 15 minutes into the air the captains SCREAMS "everyone fasten your seatbelt", like 5 times, cabin crew running through the airplane screaming the same thing like we were a plane full of deaf people. Then he gets back on and screams again "We have a door that has popped open and I am screaming because the people near the door can't hear me. We are dumping fuel and relanding." Scared the bejeezuz out of me. Found out on the ground that a door popping is not (obviously) all the way open, but they couldn't close it in the air.<BR><BR>Second one was London - Zurich on Swissair. We were about 5, no more than ten seconds from actually hitting the ground and all of a sudden the captain gunned the engines and we took back off. Not a word from the cockpit for a full 15 minutes (must have been all Swiss on the plane because everyone was quiet and really calm) and then the captain gets on and says "Sorry about that, there was a plane in the way and we couldn't land. But they are gone now, so let's try again." !!!!!!
Apr 11th, 2002, 03:52 AM
#24
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Egyptair internal flight to Cairo from Luxor, 1998. Undercarriage down, about to land. Engines suddenly seemingly put on full thrust as nose of plane tips up the way and everything on the floor slides to the back of the place. All I can see from my seat is towerblocks flashing past my window as plane speeds across the runway about 30' from the ground, lying at an angle of 45 degrees, nose up, until banking sharply for no apparent reason.<BR><BR>3 very long sentnces from the pilot in arabic presumably as to the reason for our aborted landing. Then one quick English explanation 'problem with visibility landing', whatever that meant. No fun.
Apr 11th, 2002, 03:53 AM
#25
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This just happened to me, not as bad as Sandy, but similar. I was returning from 3 weeks in Australia on Feb 18, and flying Sydney to SFA. We were 4 hours out of SFA and I was dozing in the dark and watching a movie with earphone on. The man across the aisle from me woke from his sleep, suddenly shuddered and then began heavy breathing which I took to be snoring. I went back to watching the movie, but a few minutes later the women seated next to him, got the flight attendants and realized the man was unresponsive. They searched the upper deck, where we were seated, for a Dr. meanwhile the flight attendants tried to wake the man, then after 20 minutes they made an announcement and three Drs. began to examine the man. Slowly over the next two hours the man came around, at first he was incoherent, but later fully capable. They even hooked up a satelite phone at his seat for him to call his wife in SFA, to get medical info. The doctors figured it was a seizure of some type or a mini-stroke. Very scary experience, and speaks to the stress of long distance travel, the very slow response to the emergency by the flight attendants, and my own incompetence for thinking it was nothing. Thank goodness the women seated next to him was more competent.<BR><BR>Meanwhile about 40 minutes after the event, the plane diverted to Hawaii (2 hours away), where an abulance met the man. He too walked off the plane, but we got to sit for two hours and then continue on to SFA, making the 17 hour trip 21 hours. I wonder how it all turned out for the man- Very scary experience, but a learning one for me. I signed up for CPR/EDR classes yesterday.
Apr 11th, 2002, 08:01 AM
#27
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a friend of mine was touring about 4 month in south america and we all decided to visit her and do a few weeks on her way. unfortunatly i cant take my vacation so chile was cancled for me. when i was talking to friends about this annother girl, jacky, who knows sandra also said: well, thats nice, i have time, so i visit her. she went to the travel agency and booked the flight to santiago. she phoned to sandra and made the appointment. i drove her to the airport and waved her good bye. and she called me in the middle of the night from santigo ... in mexico. the flight was going via mexico city and the travel agency booked jacky to the next santigo they could find ... and this was in mexico. and jacky wasnt to realize this when changing plane in mexico city. the stuff at airport was cool enough to give her a room and a ticket back the next day. it happens 10 times a year they told her. so she was 3 days late in chile.
Apr 11th, 2002, 01:09 PM
#28
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Sandy and Rod, My stethoscope is off to both of you!<BR><BR>I can't top those; however, I will attempt to regale you all with a tale of my own:<BR><BR>Twenty-five years ago I was traveling from Iceland to London by, you guessed it, airplane. As the flight attendants began pushing the drinks cart down the aisle (always a welcome sight!) the plane began--in the parlance of the airlines, "encountering some turbulence" (frankly, to me, it felt as if we were encountering a heard of flying wildebeest sweeping majestically across the (previously) friendly skies).<BR><BR>After what seemed like an eternity (five minutes) the turbulence finally stopped and the drink cart's progress resumed. Well, it hadn't gone two feet when, once again the "T" word returned. The attendants--for the second time--locked down the cart and waited for normalcy to return. This went on for about thirty minutes: Moving the cart a couple of feet and then locking it down when "IT" returned.<BR><BR>With my eye focused steadily on the drinks cart as it made it's way slowly toward me I began to wonder if I would ever get to partake of my favorite in-flight beverage, the Martini. Be careful what you ask for...<BR><BR>When finally the DC was right beside me, we were hit by the biggest batch of turbulence I have ever experienced. Once again, the cart was locked down but this time the attendants were also ordered back to THEIR seats.<BR><BR>So there I was with the cart right beside me when WHAM! we hit an air pocket the size of Texas. The plane must have dropped 500 feet in about three and a half seconds. When the plane first dropped, the cart LEFT THE GROUND and when we reached the bottom of the pocket THE CART CAME DOWN ON MY FOOT! <BR><BR>My foot was broken in eleven places and, as a result, I never had to pay to fly on that airline again: unfortunaely it was TWA and, of course, they are out of business.<BR><BR>Dr. AL<BR><BR>
Apr 11th, 2002, 01:20 PM
#29
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I think it was about 5 years ago when the TWA plane crashed as it was just leaving NY on it's way to Paris. We had just gotten off a TWA earlier that day and had an over night layover in NY before flying to Athens the next day. <BR><BR>I was scared to fly in the first place and after this happened, I was terrified. It was such a sad terrible thing and I couldn't stop thinking about it. <BR><BR>Well, all day long I kept telling my husband that I really didn't want to go to Greece now, and could we just take a bus back home? He wasn't really listening to me and I guess didn't really think I was that scared. He just kept saying it would be alright and not to worry.<BR><BR>Just as we were about to go into the airport to check in, I started crying. I asked for a few minutes to compose myself before going in. (I knew I couldn't back out and make my husband and 15 year old son miss the trip we had planned for so long.)<BR><BR>Finally we got in line to get our tickets and a 75 year old lady that was in line in front of us commented on my luggage, saying it was very pretty. It's started a conversation where I told her about my fear of flying. She told me not to worry that the plane would be perfectly safe. She said that she and her husband had been flying for years and that their plane would never crash because God always puts an angel on each wing of their plane. The more she talked the more relaxed I got. I thanked her and left to wait for our flight to be called.<BR><BR>While waiting I told my husband about the conversation I had and how safe I felt to be flying with this lady and her two angels. <BR><BR><BR>A few minutes later we got in line to board. I noticed that the nice lady I had been talking to was still in her seat next to her husband. Thinking they might miss their flight, I walked over to her and told her that they had better hurry and get in line.<BR><BR>To my surprise she said, "Oh no dear, OUR plane isn't leaving for an hour yet!"<BR>
Apr 11th, 2002, 02:59 PM
#32
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This was a strange and funny airline experience. I was flying home from Washington D.C. When an older lady several rows ahead jumped out of her seat and started spraying perfume on all of the people seated about 3 rows in front and behind her. Of course it reeked and someone started saying "that really stinks!". She immediately started yelling "SOMEBODY'S FAR*ING SOMEBODY'S FAR*ING"!" I was laughing so hard and nobody said anything else. The rest of her flight the lady kept hollering "I don't need to smell anybody else's body!" and cursing like a truck driver. This woman had to be in her late 60's and it was one of the funniest ways I've ever seen a person act to this day.
Apr 11th, 2002, 04:06 PM
#33
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OMG LuvtoTravel...........I'm in tears! To follow that one up with more flatulence.<BR><BR>My friend and I were flying from Munich to Budapest last year, we were in the last seat on a full plane. She kept farting! I (I'm laughing again while typing this) elbowed her in the ribs because all the people around us were getting agitated. I took out a Maalox tablet and literally crumbled it in her mouth. This is a woman with 2 master's degrees for gosh sakes!<BR>To finish this story.....on our way home from this trip, somebody near us was in dire need of a colon cleansing and she looked me in the eye and said "dang, paybacks are hell" to which I burst out laughing! <BR><BR>Signed,<BR><BR>Juvenile
Apr 11th, 2002, 05:45 PM
#35
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Once--many years ago-- as our plane circled the airport prior to landing, I was so airsick the bag started to leak. In a daze I handed it to the man sitting next to me and asked him to give it to the stewardess, which he nobly did. Later on after landing, feeling better, I was horribly embarrassed to think of what I'd asked him to do!
Apr 11th, 2002, 10:05 PM
#37
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Some great stories here!<BR>Not in the same league, but my wife had an interesting incident coming into Denver about three years ago. A fairly normal approach, but she stopped reading because something just wasn't "right". About 30 feet above ground, the jet suddenly rotated hard and headed back for the sky. All was quiet and the captain made no comments as they came back in for another approach. This time, about a mile inbound, the characteristic sounds of landing gear coming down.<BR>She realized there had been no sound of gear retracting during the emergency "go round", and the pilots apparently were too preoccupied with other matters to thank the passengers "for flying _____ airlines".
Apr 12th, 2002, 03:28 AM
#38
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Ok this is a true story , not about an airplane but coach travel<BR><BR>I used to work for National Express coach company in London & everyday we would have services arriving & departing from all over the country.<BR>The bus from Scotland would arrive with 2 drivers in the morning & a new team would take over to drive the bus back up an hour later.<BR>The arriving team decided to play a little joke on their colleagues & inserted a porn video into the video player instead of the regular standard film to keep the customers amused.<BR>The coach they drove was on 2 levels with the driver s on the lower level & the customers & video screens above.<BR>The vehicle set off , 30 passengers aboard ( fortunately all adults ) , the driver making his "welcome aboard " announcements & please " sit back & enjoy the first film ".<BR>The drivers totally oblivious to what was on the vid screen drove away & reached Birmingham , several hours drive away where they stopped for a refreshment break.<BR>The customers descended giggling from the vehicle winking at the drivers as they did so.<BR>The drivers realised that something funny had been going on & rushed upstairs to discover that they had been showing a porn film.<BR><BR>They had only one complaint as the customers made their way off to the refreshment area and that was from from an elderly lady who complained that the sound was not loud enough !<BR><BR>
Apr 12th, 2002, 03:57 AM
#39
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Not as funny as some of the above, but strange none the less.<BR><BR>I was flying - only my second flight - from London to Newark with C*********l about 10 years ago (around the time they were in Chapter 4 protection - the fare was cheap!) When we reached Newark, there was a huge thunderstorm going on and no planes were landing at any of the NYC airports. We circled for about 1.5 hours - probably more - when the pilot came on to say that we needed to refuel so we were heading to Philadelphia to do this, then would head back to Newark to rejoin the circle.<BR><BR>About half way to Philly, the pilot came on again. "There is a slot come up at Newark, so we're going to turn round and try to land there - we should have enough fuel to do it." Needless to say, for the first and only time on a flight, there was a huge cheer when we touched down....<BR><BR>Another bizarre experience was in Cuba. We had taken a day trip from Havana to Cayo Largo, and were flying on from there to Varadero. The planes used were converted Russian cargo planes - old propeller things - and didn't have any doors at the side - you entered through the old cargo entrance at the back. Anyway, we'd heard some real horror stories about Cuban internal flights, so I was pretty nervous about doing this anyway. The flight was bumpy, as I'd expected, and the passengers were a mix of European tourists and locals. I wasn't reassured by the safety instruction sheet which was badly translated into English - can anyone explain what "pull the it until pop" means?<BR><BR>The steward seemed more interested in chatting up our tour rep than putting his seatbelt on, and eventually came round with some Coke and rum. Then, about halfway into the flight, there was a huge bang outside the plane. The plane shook quite violently, but carried on. All the tourists yelled and looked pretty scared - all the locals just shrugged and went back to sleep! I think they ran out of rum on that flight....
