5 Craziest Things to Happen on an Airplane
If there’s one place where absolutely no one would want anything remotely crazy to happen, it’s on board an airplane. But guess what, crazy things do happen everywhere, and airplanes are no exception.
Over the past few decades, hundreds of in-flight incidents have ended in passengers and crew getting hurt, or worse, killed in eventual crashes brought on by whatever insane thing some people on board have done. There were, however, instances where no one was actually hurt or killed, just plain annoyed, inconvenienced or scared shitless. Some are actually even funny, especially if you weren’t on that same flight. But that doesn’t make them any less crazy.
1. Fart Downs Plane
In December 2006, an American Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing in Nashville after the smell of sulfur from burning matches permeated the air inside the plane. As it turned out, the matches were lit by an unidentified woman who farted in her seat and was desperately trying to mask the smell of her flatulence with the lighted matches.
2. Investment Banker Makes A “Deposit” On Food Cart
In one of the most infamous cases of “air rage”, Gerard Finneran, an investment banker from Greenwich, Connecticut, caused quite a ruckus on a United Airlines flight in October 1995 by pouring drinks on himself, defecating on a food cart and smearing excrement all over the seats, all because he was refused more wine by a flight attendant. He was subsequently arrested and made to pay thousands of dollars to cover cleanup costs and reimbursements.
That has got to be the smelliest flight ever.
3. Engine Falls Off Plane
If this were a screwball comedy film, this incident would have been very funny. But certainly for the more than a hundred people on board a Nationwide airline plane bound for Johannesburg last week, seeing one of their plane’s engines fall off mid-flight was the stuff of nightmares. Fortunately, the pilot managed to land safely at the Cape Town International Airport, and not one passenger or crew member was hurt.
4. Mom, 19-Month-Old Son Say “Bye-bye plane”
This one is crazy in the sense that no one actually did anything that crazy on board the plane, but passengers got booted off the flight just the same.
In July 2007, Kate Penland and her 19-month-old son, Garren, were kicked off a Continental Express plane bound for Oklahoma. The reason: the toddler kept saying ‘Bye, bye plane” over and over again as the plane was taxiing, much to the annoyance of a flight attendant, who asked Penland to shut the child up by giving him Benadryl. Naturally, the mother refused to drug her son, and was promptly booted off the plane when the flight attendant told the pilot that she had threatened her.
5. Pilot Abandons Plane For Good Food
In November 1999, a Northwest Airlines flight was delayed for an hour and a half after its pilot, identified as 22-year veteran Floyd Dean, abandoned his plane to look for a “decent meal”. Apparently, the pilot didn’t like the usual airline fare, and disembarked from his Boeing 757 to look for good food. He eventually ended up continuing his search outside the airport after the terminal didn’t turn up anything suitable. He was promptly fired by Northwest.
Sources
BBC FlyerTalkForum CNN WSBTV Salon
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