What is your worst airplane story?

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regerugged

I have lots of air travel horror stories. The scariest was when I was about to get discharged from the Army. My unit was ordered to travel from Oklahoma to Utah for training. I reminded the CO that I was about to get out in a few days. He ordered me to go with the military convoy. I had to fly in an Army DC 3 that must have been 40 years old. We flew over the highest of the Rocky Mountains. The cabin was not pressurized. I sat across from the side door. The weather stripping was mostly missing. The door was flapping in the wind. I could not get out of my seat. No place to run. No place to hide. It was cold, noisy, smelly and the plane got knocked around by air currents over the mountains.

potatochip

My trip occurred over President's Day weekend. I am giving you the events that occurred on each leg of the flight. It's pretty long but that is only because a lot happened. Flights should not be so eventful. I think the bad flight experience will be remembered more than my sister's wedding which is why we were flying in the first place.

This is an account of our flight to and from North Carolina.

Cincinnati to Raleigh flight:

The United Airlines flight should have left Cincinnati a little after 10:00 am. When we arrived at the airport around 9:00 am, we were told by the gate agent that anyone going to Raleigh should report to the gate agent. She then told us the flight from Chicago has not arrived and because of a tight connection, we would be booked on US Airways Express connecting in Charlotte and then onto Raleigh. She said there were seats available. When we show up at the US Airways gate, they tell us the flight was full and that if they put us on their plane, the flight would be oversold by 3 people. We are sent back to United Airlines. By now, the flight is still delayed so they announce that anyone on the United Airlines flight should report to the gate agent and they will rebook people. So we are then booked on a Delta Airlines flight that leaves Cincinnati 2:50 pm but it is a direct flight.

So we have to go through security again because Delta Airlines is in a different terminal. Because we changed airlines, we are considered a high risk passenger and therefore all our carry-on bags are opened up for inspection. While we go through security, the TSA manages to lose my momâ€™s boarding pass. The guy tells us to just go to the gate agent at Delta and they will help us. So we pass through security and go to our gate. We later learn that our plane which is coming from another city broke down and the flight time is now 3:10 instead of 2:50. Then they push the departure time to 4:00. Then it is pushed to 4:15. Finally the aircraft arrives but there is no flight crew. The flight crew is coming in on a different flight but they are delayed because of bad weather. So the new departure time is now 4:45. Then it becomes 5:05. We didnâ€™t leave until around 5:15-5:20. Because it has started snowing again, we have to get the aircraft de-iced. We do not take-off until almost 6:00.

We arrive at Raleigh around 7:00 and are looking for our hotel at night. Raleigh has a lot of service roads or smaller roads that run parallel to the main road. You turn into these service roads to get to restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, etc. We follow the directions given to us and miss the service road and end up driving on the main road against traffic! The speed limit is 45 mph on these roads but people go at least 50 or 55. We see cars coming at us and then I tell my dad to jump the curb so we can get on the correct side of the road.

Raleigh to Chicago flight:

The flight leaves Raleigh on-time but I am doubting the flight crew since when they show up, they go to the wrong gate and the gate agent has to direct them to the correct aircraft they will be flying. We taxi out onto the runway and the captain makes a wide turn and stops. I knew that must mean Chicago is not ready for us. This happens all the time when we fly to Chicago on United. The captain comes on and announces that Chicago is not ready for us and that after about 15 minutes we will take-off. So we sit there for about 15 minutes and depart.

We arrive in Chicago and the flight attendant tells us which gate we will park at. Since I am familiar with the airport, as soon as we taxi past our terminal, I figure something is wrong. The captain stops the aircraft and says that our gate is still being occupied because the plane had a mechanical problem. So we wait for about 10-15 minutes. Then the captain circles us around the entire United Airlines terminal (Chicago is United Airlineâ€™s headquarters so they have a huge terminal). He then stops the aircraft and says the airplane occupying our gate has not left and he needs to find another gate for us. Finally he finds a gate and parks the aircraft. You can hear people saying they only have 10 minutes to their connecting flight. You know they are not going to make it. The flight attendant tells us if we miss our flight, go to Customer Service and not the gate agent. Fortunately we have over 2 hours before our flight to Cincinnati.

Chicago to Cincinnati flight:

The aircraft taking us back to Cincinnati is late to Chicago from Kansas City so that means we will be departing at least 12 minutes late. Finally we all board our flight and the captain says everything looks good. Then he leaves the aircraft and is looking at the outside of our plane. He comes on and announces that the airplane taxing into the gate next to us blew exhaust from its engines causing a baggage cart to hit the side of our aircraft. Maintenance now has to come out and inspect the plane to make sure it is safe enough to fly. So we wait and Maintenance is out looking at the plane and taking pictures. Then they tell us that it is okay to go. Since we are about 20-30 minutes late, I am thinking Chicago will not let us leave because the airport is so busy that if you miss your scheduled departure time, they put you to the back of the line and that can mean hours of delay. Fortunately it was not peak departure time so we were able to leave. The flight was extremely bumpy and I was worried about the condition of our airplane thinking any moment we could crash.

ryssee

Back in the day when they still allowed smoking....I got moved to the last seat in the last row in the smoking section, next to the bathroom, with an empty seat next to me on an international flight. Every smoker up front sat next to me for 10 minutes each and the lines to the bathroom were non-stop.

MacAce

Once, while flying in a two-seater Cessna private plane, I had a bit of a scare. The local airport came on the radio and gave clearance for another aircraft to fly-by the runway that we were currently landing on. No more than 10 seconds later, an Air Force Thunderbird came screaming over top of us as we descended.

Nonetheless, I needed new underwear.

Ben Jeepin

I flew to Europe on Pan Am flight #102. The next day flight #103 wos blown up by terrorists. I figure it was the same airplane returning the next day.

rose

A friend told me a story, she told me she get up into a airplane who was going to PerÃº and she buy the passage to U.S but nobody was geting count of the problem but thanks God they could be on the right airplane because the personal see the trouble. And once my package go to Aruba and I was landing on Miami, then I loose the package.

iheartart

i was on an international plane with a group, and i was in between two other girls (from my group). they both fell asleep during the movie. one fell asleep over her armrest out into the aisle, and i had to pull her back up so the hostesses could get through to a guy in front of us who was airsick. around the same time, the other girl fell asleep on the guy next to her (he looked very rich, thanks to the armani suit, multiple gold rings, and the nose stuck into the air!). even better, the guy didn't speak english, and looked VERY uncomfortable. i had to try so hard not to laugh while pulling her off of him and onto my shoulder. then, of course, i didnt really want to laugh anymore because i had to worry about the two girls sleeping on my arms. needless to say, i didn't get a whole lot of sleep on that flight!

lucykoolkat

My b/f and I were traveling to Ireland from Fla . they messed up our seating arrangements together so she was on one side of the plane , and I the other. It really sucked that I got stuck between 2 sick , crying toddlers for 8 hrs straight , nonstop. I thought about parachuteing from the plane as they kept vomiting and screaming !Needless to say that was a first ,and hopefully a last!

Mr. T's Pretty Cuzzin

CityBird MD11, Newark-Brussels. It was cramped.

Samantha

We were landing in San Antonio and right before we landed the right wing suddenly dipped it came about 3 feet from touching the runway. I was one of the only ones that noticed it. I could be dead.

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