Bad Flight Experiences...

PaulMcG · 17-09-2005 12:58AM #1

Inspired by otron's thread on long haul fights - has anyone got any bad flight experiences to share?

I don't really have any just the usual turbulance and stuff.

I really enjoy flying and had a great time when I went to America last year and went on 4 flights in one day!

Nightwish · 17-09-2005 01:04AM

PaulMcG wrote:

Inspired by otron's thread on long haul fights - has anyone got any bad flight experiences to share?

I don't really have any just the usual turbulance and stuff.

I really enjoy flying and had a great time when I went to America last year and went on 4 flights in one day!

I had no bad flight experiences other than kids crying constantly/running up and down the aisles etc. I would definately pay more for my ticket if I could get on a child-free flight

simu · 17-09-2005 01:05AM

I ordered coke but it was American coke - icky.

!El traumatismo!

Rb · 17-09-2005 01:11AM

The worst experience, which isn't exactly bad, was when I had to sit on the plane, going nowhere for 2 hours because the door wouldnt shut...typical Ryanair.All through the flight I kept thinking about the door and the possibility of it opening.

Repli · 17-09-2005 01:11AM

I was taking off on a plan to gran canaria with my girlfriend last year, and u know the most problems happen on the runway, anyway as the plane was taking off smoothly, it JERKED back down a few feet as if it was only starting to take off again.. then the landing was far from normal either ... it was like .swoooooooooooooooooossssh BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM...

Then I was coming back from France with my girlfriend this year, and while we were away the 2 huge crashes happened (stelios and venezuela) so wa a bit freaked out anyway.. But the plane was sitting on the runway with all passengers aboard fro almost 2 hours (waiting for space I presume, was CDG) .. that freaked me out a bit too..

Flyings a scary experience at the best of times..

Pataman · 17-09-2005 01:19AM

I had just qualified as a pilot and my first passsenger was a good friend. I fuelled up the plane, he opened his door to offer help, which I declined, but I forgot to check his door. Anyway we get our clearance, off down the main runway in Dublin airport. About 200 feet up doing approx 70 miles per hour in a small 2 seater his door opens. I have never seen anybody go white instantly before, incredable. Anyway I reassured him, didnt work he was ****less for the rest of the flight. At least we laugh about it now. Well I do anyway.

rainbow kirby · 17-09-2005 01:33AM

Turbulence on the way into Innsbruck on a stormy February evening.

BuffyBot · 17-09-2005 10:56AM

The worst experience, which isn't exactly bad, was when I had to sit on the plane, going nowhere for 2 hours because the door wouldnt shut...typical Ryanair.

I wouldn't say typical anyone - been on more than one airline who've had door trouble :eek:

stelios

[pedant]Helios[/pedant]

joejoem · 17-09-2005 11:19AM

While flying to New York a few weeks ago a friend had a bad stomach. In the bar before we took off he was dropping bombs, by the time we got on the plain it was constant. It was so bad that he would tell me he was trying to let one go quietly and it would still give out a big rip. All of us being locked and giddy would start to laugh and cover our noses (disgusted but when your locked and on the first day of holidays everything is funny) he would laugh aswell out of embarressment which would make him fart more and more and more, coming out in short bursts.

The smell was terrible, the aerhostess's would walk by and there reaction was priceless. They would jump back and clutch there noses. I didnt feel bad for them though the snotty Aerlingus bitches.

That was a very very long 7 hours. I felt soaked in fart by the time I got off the plane.

Dizzyblabla · 17-09-2005 11:24AM

I was on the way to Portugal, flight was at 6.30am, we had gone out the night before, which was fine, and still even a little tipsy checking in, flight took off, no problems...
we were about 20 mins from Faro airport, when a voice came out over the intercom, "Due to technical dificulties, we will be turning around and going back to Manchester"....
We ended up in Gatwick Airport for 8 hours, before we finally left, and all we got for our troubles was a £10 voucher to get some lunch...
I got to my holiday destination 11 hours late... not nice at all

netwhizkid · 17-09-2005 11:27AM

My worst flight experiences are This year going to New York i wore a t-shirt only and i was perished for 7 hours by the A/C i ended up getting an awful head cold that stuck with me for the whole holiday. In 2003 i went to Lanzarote and i had a little turbulence but noting major, however it was the first day of the Iraqi War and i was afriad we'd be shot down as we crossed over islamic Morocco.

ixoy · 17-09-2005 11:37AM

My worst flight experience was when my plane crashed on a tropical island, which had a polar bear on it. Other than that, my flights have been okay.

joejoem · 17-09-2005 11:39AM

1) Turbulence on a cheap arline flight from New York to Miami. Scary, really bouncing around, weightless legs and arms at times.

2) Coming back from Greece after 4 days excessive drinking and other boldness with a broken toe and bloodied hand. Four day hangover after eating next to nothing over the four days and this old (55ish) woman beside me has a glass of wine and decides she wants conversation with me. The plane is tiny, there is no escape, I feel so ill. Go to the toilet for privacy and possibley air and get overwhelmed with the smell. Four hours of listening to her blather on or just plain stare at me. Do you know how irritating it is when you feel sick and you can feel somone staring at the side of your face???? I think will go down as four of the worst hours of my life. My poor toe had swollen to 4 times its size.

Dizzyblabla · 17-09-2005 12:28PM

Being asked if I can stay an extra day in Boston, and even being offered money to stay, but turning it down, getting on the plane to find an elderly couple sitting in our seats, getting them bumped up to first class (that's gotta be ageism, they were already sitting, they should have put us in first class).
When we got to Dublin airport, our bags were never put on the plane, so I had to wait 5 hours for the next plane to land with our bags cause I (stupidly) put the keys of the house I was staying in on the suitcase that didn't arrive...

DublinWriter · 17-09-2005 12:36PM

Not my experience, but did anyone hear Valerie Cox on the PK radio show last week?

She was on a Ryanair flight were there was a pool of vomit nearby as the 'plane hadn't been cleaned properly from the previous flight.

When she complained and took pictures with her phone, the flight-attendant threatened to kick her off the flight (hadn't taken off at the time).

Personally, I was flying Ryanair to Charlois a week after 9/11. Noticed one of the stewardesses going up into the cockpit - she left the door to the cockpit wide open for about three minutes as she chatted to one of the pilots. Pretty unnerving considering the vibe of that particular time.

Dinner · 17-09-2005 12:36PM

12 or 13 hour flight from Paris to Singapore on the dullest plane ever. The only telly within my view was about 10 rows infront of us and it was tiny. They put on sh!te films for most of the flight but for the last hour they put on Mr. Bean.

Last year coming home from Austria I was bet down with a cold/sore throat and by the time we got up in the air the pressure was killing my ears. I couldnt sleep because they hurt and I wasnt able to concentrate to read. Worst flight ever.

Lemlin · 17-09-2005 02:29PM

Was really thirsty flying from Birmingham to Dublin so bought a can on Ryanair.

£1.30 for the smallest can of 7UP I'd ever seen in my life!

As a scabby Cavan man, I still have nightmares about it to this day.

Lump · 17-09-2005 02:35PM

Lemlin wrote:

Was really thirsty flying from Birmingham to Dublin so bought a can on Ryanair.

£1.30 for the smallest can of 7UP I'd ever seen in my life!

As a scabby Cavan man, I still have nightmares about it to this day.

How do you think Ryanair make money. No one forces you to buy stuff on the flight, and it's not like they don't allow you to bring your own stuff on.

John

frodi · 17-09-2005 02:42PM

Flying home from Bulgaria about 20 years ago (gee I'm old), eastern european (read communist) airline. Some rivets were missing on the wing and for the entire flight I could see smoke/steam/condensation coming out of the rivet holes. Throw in some turbulence I was close to bricking it.

Wertz · 17-09-2005 02:56PM

Recall when I was pretty young (about 8) being on a flight from Jersey to Heathrow, on a turbo-prop plane (the one where the wings are above you rather than below and you can see the engine and prop)...anyways on coming in to land , we touched down smoothly enough, and then all of a sudden the tyre on our side of the plane which we could see out the window blew out and thew plane veered and skidded all over the runway as the pilot tried to bring it to a halt...he brought it to standstill on a slip way and we were met by about 4 fire engines and everyone was rushed off the plane. Now as an 8 yr old I thought all this was f*ckin' A, great craic...if it happened now I'd probably think worse of it.

A few years back was on a connecting night flight from Chicago to Dallas when we ran into a pretty bad t-storm...all the seatbelt lights came on and even the air hostesses ran for their little fold downs....the turbulence was dire...I'd say the plane dropped at least 30-40 ft in one pocket, and you'd get that mad sound as the engines compensate for the drop in speed, everything in the overhead compartments rattling...and as it was an internal US flight I was sober ><
Seeing loads of lightning out the window kinda made up for it. A stiff drink wouldn't have gone astray either...

boneless · 17-09-2005 03:02PM

14 hours on an Aeroflot aircraft from Moscow to Pyonyang... I hate flying at the best of times, but that was sheer hell!! I am convinced I handed back the same bit of "chicken" twice. We stopped in the armpit of Siberia to refuel or something. I got eaten by the most savage mosquitos I've ever encountered... the return journey was worse. There was nothing to drink on the plane!! We just got plastered on Korean rice hooch.

PaulMcG · 17-09-2005 03:04PM

I was on one of those Continental Express planes (only hold like 30-50 people) and was flying from IAH (Houston) to Lubbock in Texas and there was amazing an lightning storm below us. The plane was rocking all around the place for a while - twas great!

Lemlin · 17-09-2005 04:22PM

Originally posted by Lump
How do you think Ryanair make money. No one forces you to buy stuff on the flight, and it's not like they don't allow you to bring your own stuff on.

Jez, relax mate, do you work for RyanAir or something!? Anyway, like I said, I was really thirsty, dehydration from drink had hit, and we nearly missed the flight so I didn't have time to get a drink before I got on board.

Tall a chill pill though, it was a tongue in cheek post.

Lump · 17-09-2005 05:29PM

Lemlin wrote:

Jez, relax mate, do you work for RyanAir or something!? Anyway, like I said, I was really thirsty, dehydration from drink had hit, and we nearly missed the flight so I didn't have time to get a drink before I got on board.

Tall a chill pill though, it was a tongue in cheek post.

No I just hate people moaning about, in my opinion, the best airline around atm.

John

Civilian_Target · 17-09-2005 06:07PM

Coming back to Dublin after a weekend on the piss in Nottingham - started on beer, then hit the ale hard. Was flying Ryanair, so I had my knees round my neck to start with, which was not helping my hangover.

We hit turbulence approaching Howth. And as a costsaving measure, Ryanair don't have sickbags. So people started getting sick on the aisles, the seats, and each other. And the smell of sick only causes you to get sick....

Needless to say, in that hungover state, the night before got re-aired...

Ozzy · 17-09-2005 06:14PM

I was really really tired, felt like ****! Things were looking up though when I got a nice cup of hot coffee placed in front of me ready to go down, yum yum yum. Put the sugar in, mmm coffee, licking my lips and rubbing my hands together, admiring my beautiful cup of coffee.

But no, God doesn't like tired people in urgent need of a chemical stimulant! Just as I stretch my hands out for it, the stupid little kid in front drops a ****ing carrot or some **** over his seat from his dinner which plops right into my unspoiled drink like an orange turd, splashing acid coffee into my innocent panda-eyed eyeballs...
I admit it was a nice shot and all, he wasn't even looking but... that little bastard

DublinWriter · 17-09-2005 07:24PM

Lump wrote:

How do you think Ryanair make money.

By having a cute pricing model where you pay *a lot* for flights if you book just two weeks in advance. Check their site for most popular UK flights in the next 1-2 weeks and most will be around the €200 mark return, excluding taxes.

Chucking away a few seats for 99p on each flight and calling themselves the low-fare airline has to be one of the great marketing coups in history.

I've found Aer Lingus to be cheaper for UK/Brussels flights in practise.

Anyway, another flight experience, interesting rather than bad, was flying with Aer Arann about 15 years ago. Everyone had to get weighted at their small airport in Galway. The scales were gigantic and on the wall, so needless to say most of the women weren't happy with that!

The plane was a 6-seater that looked like a Hiace with wings. The poor pilot looked like one of the original Wright brothers. Silent novenas were said mid-flight for his health.

I was in the co-pilots seat and there was only what resembled a car door between me and the altantic some 5,000 feet below.

Coming back from Inisir, the plane landed and took off from the other two islands before eventually heading back to Galway.

My gf at the time needed valium to even get her onto a 737, so you can imagine the state of her after all that!

cee_jay · 17-09-2005 07:44PM

We flew from Chang Mai to Bangkok (extremely hungover at 6 in the morning!) and had to wait 7 hours to get our flight to Singapore - and then on to Sydney.
There were 3 of us, and as we were so early for the flight we were the first ones to check in and we were told we couldn't get seats together!
A bit surprised at that but the reason was there was an American school tour (all girls)on the same flight as us!
Got on the plane and the air hostesses were going mad cause all the girls were swapping seats, jumping over other passengers to get to sit beside whoever, and most of them had ordered special meals - i mean not just plain vegetarian or whatever - the girl in front of me wanted nut free, dairy free, gluten free, and meat free!!! so there the air hostesses were trying to figure out who was who and who wanted what meal and the kids (and teachers for that matter) just ignoring them - and being so loud!
Finally got to Singapore, got on the connecting flight to Sydney, and there they all were again...........
Longest flights ever! Thought I would never get off the plane!

scojones · 17-09-2005 07:46PM

I was on a flight from Larnaca to Dublin a few years ago, the engines stopped working and the planed dropped a good few thousand feet, the airhostess bringing around the drinks flew up and hit her head off of the ceiling inside the plane because we fell so suddently, her head was split open, all of those masks came out of the ceiling and the lights went out. The engines started working again when we were very very close to the ground, I thought that was it...

My uncle flies about three times a week, he was looking out the plane at the engine, and a bolt was loose, and flew out, then another and another and then the engine fell off. Everyone was ok though, thanks to a very experienced pilot.

DublinWriter · 17-09-2005 07:51PM

sjones wrote:

My uncle flies about three times a week, he was looking out the plane at the engine, and a bolt was loose, and flew out, then another and another and then the engine fell off. Everyone was ok though, thanks to a very experienced pilot.

What?!?! I know most 'planes can fly on a single engine, but the cavity left on the leading age of a wing after the complete loss of an engine would make it as aerodynamic as a brick - the entire wing would have been ripped off!

What airline and type of 'plane was it?

electric69 · 17-09-2005 11:37PM

Last summer,on my last night of holidays i got just a lil drunk,got collected from the hotel at 8 in the morning....spent the 2hours 2 the airport getting sick on the bus....when i got on the plane my blood-sugar level was basically zero,then there was no food available on the flight bcus it got damaged due to turbulance on the previous flight.I then proceded to have some sort of fit on the plane and all my muscles siezed up.they were going 2 divert the flight but they filled me up with coke and chocolate and i was a bit better....had 2b carried off the plane in dublin airport in a wheelechair though.

Bad Flight Experiences...

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