What is the most memorable experience youā€™ve ever had on an airplane?

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davem

Just before Christmas in 1978 I boarded an Air Canada DC-9 in Ottawa bound for Halifax. As we were pushing back from the gate, the flight attendant came on the p.a. and welcomed us all aboard the flight which was departing to Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary. I looked around me since this wasn't what I was expecting. Maybe I had somehow boarded the wrong plane, and I wanted to see how others were reacting.

Everyone did the same, then someone in an aisle seat beside a flight attendant showed her his ticket. Others did the same, and she walked quickly to the cockpit. The plane's pushback stopped and we were pulled ahead to the gate again.

The flight attendants and pilots grabbed their suitcases and exited the aircraft, and within minutes a new crew boarded. They pushed us back again, with the proper p.a. announcement welcoming us aboard the flight to Halifax and we were on our way.

I have always wondered what happened...obviously the crew was on the wrong aircraft (it was a very early am departure), but...where was the other crew? Did they go through the same experience on another aircraft?

True story.

Tim

Almost crashing into the woods over New Bern, North Carolina!

I was flying on a U.S. Airways Express Dash 8 turbo prop airplane. It seated about 35 people. Anyways, we took off from the small regional airport at 0500 in the morning. The weather was horrible. Shortly after takeoff, right when the pilots pulled back on the throttle climbing to cruise altitude, I got the sinking feeling in my stomach (like on a roller coaster going down a hill.)

Since we were in the clouds, I had vertigo and couldn't tell if we were banking, descending, or climbing. But I knew we were falling! Immediately the engines were put back at full power and I felt the pilot nose the plane forward. We bursted through the clouds about 100 feet above the woods that surround the airport.

What had happened was we hit a bit of windshear. That sinking feeling was the sudden downburst of wind just pushing the airplane downwards. We stalled. So the captain powered the plane up to keep some airspeed going. He then nosed the plane down to gain more airspeed.

Lucky for us, the windshear hit at about 1,500 feet. If it had hit any earlier, I don't think I'd be typing this right now. So I'm a huge beliver in that whole 'when it's your time, it's your time."

One last thing. The old saying "You can tell if something is wrong if the flight attendant is nervous.." Well that girl was screaming her *** off, so I figured we were as good as dead then :)

Adam A

When I was flying home from Victoria, a guy in the row in front of me puked, almost on the flight attendant, shortly after takeoff. We continued on to Calgary.

John

Having a pot of coffee spilled on me during turbulence.

Finding a little runaway infant who happened to crawl up next to my seat when he was supposed to be taking a nap.

An absolutely phenomenal steak en route to Paris.

Getting stuck inside one of the bathrooms after the door jammed.

When three flight attendants spontaneously broke out into dance.

Forgetting my cell phone, and getting a call at my hotel an hour later that it was forgotten.

Having the entire business cabin to myself.

Consuming six classes of champagne, two martinis, two glasses of wine, and a vodka coming back from Europe.

Sleeping for seven hours after said consumption.

Being rudely woken up seven hours later by my seat after activating the TV and the recline simultaneously, and having them pop out / shake me upright. I nearly had a heart attack, and the poor lady next to me almost did too after I shouted. http://www.contour.aero/uploads/330_x_360_Virgin_Upper_1.jpg
The world's most comfortable (yet inconvenient) seat imaginable.

Receiving the occasional smile from the check-in staff =]

keagkid101

I was on the best airline ever, within 5 months of it opening. Virgin America had brand new planes, and a bunch of new features including Personal Tvs on the back of every seat. These are rare on aircraft smaller than a Boeing 767 or an Airbus A330. Great experience!

mobilemark

when I was 12 years old the airplane I was flying on went thought a white cloud
at the time I thought the pilot did all for me! (good ole TWA!)

Harold R

A few...

1. Landing in Vienna on Austrian from Toronto. Most turbulent landing I've ever been in. We were shaking, banking, and being flopped around like a ragg doll on approach. It was raining, and miserable. We hit down so hard a number of overhead bins flew open, sending bags flying around the cabin.

2. Actually, happened 4 hours after the first incident. I am a very frequent traveller, Air Canada Elite/Super Elite status, depending on year. This was last march, on an austrian arrows flight from vienna to lviv ukraine. Dash 8 400 plane. Before take off, the pilot did not say "we expect clear skies" or anything, just said flight time is one hour. After take off, we hit some light bumps, nothing much. Soon, flight attendants began serving meals. Suddenly, we started our ride. We dropped many times, were flung violently around, and the engines revved up. The flight attendants spilled coffe in the isle, my companion spilled juice all over herself, the man ahead of us spilled water on his wife, another flight attendant dropped a cold meal on a man's lap. The suddenly took the carts, put them away, and sat down. We continued to be rocked around very harshly!

The pilot came on 10 minutes later, still in strong turbulence, and said that the weather is very poor and unavoidable. After almost half an hour of this, it calmed down, meals were served, and we bgan landing. Landing was super turbuulent. When we landed, we hit hard on the left side, and i thought we were going to slide off the runway! We veered left, and stopped suddenly in the middle of the runway.

Every barf bag was full, the plane was a mess, the passengers were sick....not pleasant, and the poor crew turned around 35 minutes later!

That was the worst turbulence i've ever encountered. It was truely something terrible.

Also had incidents where my ZIP 737 was hit by lighting near Hinton, alberta, while landing for edmonton.

Once, my a320 from edmonton to vancouver's landing gear wouldn't retract, so we had to return.

Stripe

Getting a seat right by the bathroom and the aroma every time the door opened. The flight from Houston to El Paso was not pleasant

ed77

Flying in the cabin in the middle of the pilots (the extra seat behind the door) Was in Taca airlines, I was there because I was so sick, and that time my brother work with company, was kinda scare for me at the moment, but later was fun, the pilots try to explain me little bit, but was little shock been in there, that was about 15 years ago.

jonny

I bailed out of an airplane once in 1991 over the Indian Ocean.

*Coolboy*Ā® SHANE

I Winked at a Air Hostess lol

barbi

On the way back from Orlando to the UK I fell asleep .I was in a very awkward position,my bum was facing the aisle.I farted in my sleep and it was so loud it woke me up. It was very embarrassing for a 35 year old lady!

Philkillens Lover Forever

I met a circus clown once on a flight to Portugal.

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