What are your horror stories about flying?

[China]

This story made me think of the topic:

Tourists tape up dodgy plane

Berlin - German tourists found themselves using adhesive tape to stick together the interior of a plane operated by a Turkish airline with a troubled safety record, a German newspaper said on Tuesday.

The midair repair job came during an Onur Air flight from Antalya in southern Turkey to the eastern German city of Leipzig, the Bild newspaper said.

"The pilot started the engines. Suddenly a piece of the interior of the plane fell on our heads. Some of the holidaymakers started to scream," one of the passengers, Gunnar Storch, 34, told Bild newspaper.

"A female flight attendant immediately ran into the ****pit to ask for the takeoff to be aborted. But the pilot wasn't in the least bit interested. He just carried on.

"Behind the interior casing, we could see the exposed wiring. It wasn't a very reassuring sight."

Exposed wiring

Bild published passengers' photographs of the exposed wiring inside the Airbus A321.

Storch, who was returning from a holiday with his wife and two children, said he used tape he had in his hand luggage to attempt to stick the panel back into place as the plane reached an altitude of 33 000 feet (10 000m).

The plane later landed safely in Leipzig but Storch said "no one was interested" when he tried to report the incident at the airport.

Bild did not say when the flight took place, and there was no immediate reaction to the report from either the Turkish airline or Airbus.

Onur Air was briefly banned from Dutch skies in May for security reasons, with France, Switzerland and Germany following suit.

The four countries decided on a progressive lifting of the ban after the airline put forward a programme of safety improvements.

Beset

Another Turkish airline, Fly Air, has been beset by safety concerns in recent weeks. One of its planes was seized by the French civil aviation authority at the weekend.

France and Belgium on Monday published a list of airlines banned from their airspace in the wake of a string of fatal accidents this summer, including a crash on August 16 that killed 160 people in Venezuela, almost all of them French tourists from the Caribbean island of Martinique.

The French authorities said they had banned five passenger carriers, and Belgium nine cargo companies, but neither Onur Air nor Fly Air were among them.

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For me, I remember coming in to land after a flight from Rome and seeing the remains of a crash landed cargo plane on the tarmac. As we're coming in there is some turbulence and some of the oxygen masks popped down. :yikes: It wasn't due to a loss in air pressure, just that the plane was old, rattling and coming apart. Fun!

[rdsknbill]

Geez!

The worst one I had was a few weeks ago, coming back from Orland with the wife and kids. Southwest cattle call to get on the plane back to B-more. This woman got onto the plane late, found a seat in fron of us. When she went to sit down, she told the lady sitting in the window seat that she was prone to asthma attacks and if she would mind letting her sit there, because it calms her condition when she flies.

The wonman at the window's response was and I quote "I AIN'T GIVING UP MY SEAT, YOU SHOULD'VE GOTTEN HERE EARLER!!!!!!!! So the asthmatic lady sits on the aisle.

We get into a holding pattern over Norfolk, due to weather, and sure enough, the woman has a masive asthma attack. The flight attendants jump into action. Oxygen , getting her to lay down on the floor.

Long story short, we made an emergency landing in Norfolk and the EMT's were waiting to get her off the plane and to a hospital. This made our plane 2 1/2 hours late due to the fact that this window seat woman wouldn't trade seats with this lady.

Needless to say, she wasn't the most popular person when we were waiting for bags in baggage claim.

Some people just blow me away with their selfishness. :mad:

[TheDoyler23]

I was flying from Pittsburgh to DC on some kinda midsize twin engine plane, and one of the engines go out; the engine on my (left side). The plane starts to wobble, and tilt to the left, then straight, then left, then straight. The regular lights go out... This was about a 1/3 the way, so the plane turns around and we make it back to the airport safely.

Ever since that, I've had absolutely no fear of flying.

[rdsknbill]

I was flying from Pittsburgh to DC on some kinda midsize twin engine plane, and one of the engines go out; the engine on my (left side). The plane starts to wobble, and tilt to the left, then straight, then left, then straight. The regular lights go out... This was about a 1/3 the way, so the plane turns around and we make it back to the airport safely.

Ever since that, I've had absolutely no fear of flying.

Did you need a new pair of shorts after that? :yikes:

Was it a twin prop?

[TheDoyler23]

Did you need a new pair of shorts after that? :yikes:

Was it a twin prop?

The plane was twin engine, a 7-something-7. I was too frightened to do anything but stare at the emergency lights. It was my side that was dipping.

We definitly rented a car and drove home from Pittsburgh, though. No chance we were getting onto another plane that day.

[SKINS@THEGOALLINE]

I once saw Hank Stram at the airport in Philly, I couldn't help but yell, "Keep matriculating the ball down the field boys."

[NavyDave]

P3 had an engine die on us before landing in Germany thank god for the remaining three.

When I was on the USS America watched a closed circuit camera of a jet on the flight deck testing a catapult, get pushed into the water with its pilot and ran over by the ship.

He was rescued jet was lost.

[Bang]

This is one of my earliest memories.

I was just past 3 because my sister was a baby.

My father was a private pilot, we were in a piper cub coming in to some field. I was in the back seat looking thru the windshield. I heard my mom start screaming and my dad start yelling ,and this other small plane went right by the windshield.

I mean within 25 yards.

The plane dipped and rocked badly, but my dad got it back on track and we landed. At the time i was too young to be scared, but I think that qualifies.

(Of course, there was another time when i was about 3 that i opened the car door as we cruised down the highway. I lurched out and remember my face being inches from the pavement before my mom snatched me up. Another one of my earliest memories.. in fact, these two things might just be my first memories.)

~Bang

[CHUBAKAH]

Another one of my earliest memories.. in fact, these two things might just be my first memories.)

~Bang

Don't forget about that time at bandcamp.

[dks1240]

I was flying to Honduras and apparently it is one of the most dangerous places in the world to land a commericial airplane. (very short runway and deep in a valley) so bad that only a handful of airplane pilots are certified to fly there and only two flights go in and out of the country each day. the turbulence was so bad that people were puking left and right.

oh boy was that the longest landing of my life. coupled by the fact that i was going into a third world country by myself, it was a very stressful and unfun way to start my trip.

we survived though and everyone on the plane clapped when the ride was finally over.

[TGateNGDad]

Two years ago, I was landing at Charlotte International. The weather was awful, completely socked in. As we approached, the pilot announced that we had to circle again because "the plane in front of us had dropped some parts on the runway and we needed to wait until they were cleared off!" Needless to say, we were all a little up tight. When we actually landed, visibility was ZERO...we could not even see our wings outside. All we sensed was the engine whines, and the turbulence from extended landing gear and foul weather. Suddenly, our wheels slammed down on the tarmac with a loud jolt! Two or three passengers lost it, but we were safely down. I had no idea we were even that close to the ground. My hat was off to the pilots!

[Pete]

I’ll skip the details on the all delay from FT Myers Fl to Newark NJ. My cousin was dropping me off at the airport for the return flight. Everything was going well, and I actually boarded early and settled into my window seat just behind the left wing. The flight was fairly full but took off right on time.

Life was good, for all of 15 minutes. As were flying along, I notice a golden, thick fluid oozing out from between one of the flap type things. I knew just what it was being I used a Shell hydraulic fluid mad for the aircraft industry. I shook my head, did a sign of the cross, and put my seatbelt back on. The woman next to me saw me do this and started to get a bit upset. Within in minutes of me spotting this, the pilot comes over the PA saying we were going to have to make an emergency landing in DC.

At that moment, the plane went into the steepest turning dive I have ever experienced. I started digging under my seat for life jackets which prompted the woman next to me to ask what I was doing. When I told her, she start praying in Hebrew.

We came into Dullas so steep and fast, I didn’t think they could stop the plane in time. Wasn’t fun to say the least. More then half of the people on the flight opted to take another plane later that day. I got back on the same one about 3 hours later……….

[Blondie]

I was on a 8 passenger plane going to the top of Denali. We landed on a glacier......it was beautiful. Then:

when we got back on board to go back to the airport, clouds came in. We could not see a thing and the pilot kept leaning forward and looking up....I suppose to see where the dang mountains were.

I talked to God. He got on the radio and said to the tower or whoever "There are 8 souls on board." Oh My LORD. I was shaking. I was praying. The clouds came in so quickly.

We landed and all of us let out a collective breath.

Blondie