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

Now some of the planes listed here, almost all of which are military, are no longer operational, and only exist in aviation museums. Still, the impact they’ve had on speedometers hold speedaholics in awe, having hit speeds that put the capabilities of the most expensive private jets to shame.

1. X-15

Many people say the X-15 doesn’t count, since it is a rocket-powered plane, not an air-breathing jet one. Still, a manned aircraft that once reached Mach 6.7 or 4,520 mph surely has to count for something as far as speed demons are concerned. The X-15 remains the fastest manned aircraft ever.

2. SR-71 Blackbird

At Mach 3.2, or over 2,200 mph, the SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest jet aircraft in the world. Too bad the Blackbird, which once flew from New York to London in 1 hour and 54 minutes, was retired in 1998.

3. MiG-25 Foxbat

With an average speed of Mach 2.83, or 2,115 mph, the Foxbat is the fastest jet fighter in the world. And unlike many of its Russian contemporaries, it is still very much in active service, albeit a limited one.

4. XB-70 Valkyrie

The Valkyrie was a U.S. Air Force nuclear bomber that had to capability to cruise at 2,000 mph, which effectively makes it one of the fastest bombers ever conceived. Unfortunately, it never got past the test stage, and only two prototypes were built, with one crashing in 1966, and the other one now on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

5. F-15 Eagle

Compared to the Russian Foxbat, the F-15 Eagle, the fastest fighter jet in the U.S. military arsenal, is a slowpoke. But its maximum speed of 1,875 mph and all-weather capabilities are nothing to sneeze at. In fact, the USAF plans to keep the F-15 in active service until 2025, a definite testament to the F-15’s overall reliability.

6. MiG-31 Foxhound

Designed to replace the Foxbat, the MiG-31 Foxhound, which has a maximum speed of 1,868 mph, was the most advanced interceptor fielded by the Soviet Union before it collapsed.

7. F-111 Aardvark

The Aardvark is a multipurpose tactical fighter bomber capable of speeds up to 1,850 mph. Although retired from USAF active service in 1998, the F-111, which has a number of variants, remains active with the Royal Australian Air Force, whose people affectionately call the aircraft the “Pig”.

8. F-14 Tomcat

You might recognize this one as the fighter plane Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer fly in “Top Gun”. This U.S. Navy jet fighter has a maximum speed of Mach 2.34 or 1,544 mph. It has since been retired from active U.S. service in 2006, but remains operational with the Iranian air force.

9. Tupolev Tu-144

Before the Concorde, there was the Tupolev Tu-144, the world’s first supersonic transport aircraft. It had a top speed of Mach 2.35 or 1,550 mph, which effectively made it the fastest commercial airliner ever. However, it wasn’t as successful as its supersonic Anglo-French counterpart, and was eventually retired from service in 1978, 25 years before the Concorde performed its own swan song.

10. F-4 Phantom

First flown in 1958, the F-4 Phantom is one of the oldest and most successful fighter aircraft still in active service. It has a maximum speed of Mach 2.23 or 1,472 mph.

Images via:

X-15 NASA GlobalAircraft VectorSite MilitaryFactory AeroFlight AeroSpaceWeb WingWeb

Private jets are probably some of the most expensive toys available to man. Naturally, only the very rich can even think about getting one. But even among private jets, there is a group of ultra-expensive aircraft that you can own only if you treat $40 million or more as nothing more than spare change. You know, like British gazillionaire Philip Green, who owns a Gulfstream G550, and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of a couple of Boeing jets, do.

The price tags on the five most expensive private jets listed below may be a bit too much, but the truth is, the quality and performance of these aircraft deserve that kind of a price range—and more. Spacious, luxurious, super fast, and becoming increasingly longer-ranged, these jets are exactly the stuff dreams are made of. But getting them will remain a dream for me, unless I build a website that will become the next YouTube or something.

1. Gulfstream G550: $59.9 million

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2. Boeing Business Jet 2: $55.5 million

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3. Bombardier Global Express XRS: $47.7 million

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4. Gulfstream V-SP: $45 million

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5. Dassault Falcon 7X: $41 million

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