<p>Cute little fluff piece about odd behavior a flight attendant has witnessed over the years. The woman trying to put her baby in an overhead bin probably takes the cake.</p>
<p>I think the worst I’ve ever experienced was the guy who sat with legs wide apart, reading his open newspaper, taking up both armrests, and therefore a good chunk of my own space. I don’t know why I didn’t speak up, but I didn’t-I just tried to make myself shrink so we wouldn’t bump arms/elbows/thighs. I remember being so thankful it was just a very quick flight.</p>
<p>Have you ever witnessed really strange or awful behavior on a flight?</p>
<p>Well, I was on a flight where a passenger died. We had to make an unplanned stop, and he was taken off on a board thing that slides along the top of the seats, so we all had to duck as he passed over us. His wife also got off. I have thought about that poor woman, shocked, grieving, and marooned in a city where she probably knew no one, ever since. (I assume that the airline did something for her in terms of helping to arrange for the body to be transported home. At least, I hope so.)</p>
<p>Well, others witnessed my behavior. PMKjr was just learning to crawl and I was exhausted. I must not have buckled him into his baby seat because I was jolted awake by a flight attendant holding my baby towards me saying, “I believe this belongs to you.” She was not happy but the people around us laughed. Apparently he made it a few rows before being caught.</p>
<p>My daughter having a panic attack seemed awful to me. There is just no calming her down, so she no longer goes on trips with us. When I hear about people trying to open the doors of the plane, while in flight, I suspect they are also suffering some type of panic attack. I know it sounds strange, but D almost seems like she’d do anything to get off a plane. And yes, we’ve tried drugs. </p>
<p>I did witness something strange on a trip from Amsterdam to Madrid. There was a man on a stretcher. The back three rows of seats in the plane were folded down, and the stretcher was on top of them. The stretcher had poles at the corners, with an oval ring on top of the poles, kind of like an old-fashioned shower curtain mounting bar, over those claw-foot tubs. The curtain was partially pulled, but I could see his I.V. A man, in some type of medical uniform, was traveling with him, as was another woman, seated nearby. The woman was all beat up, with cuts and bruises all over her face. I thought I heard the woman say something about an auto accident in Africa. I guess I never thought they’d put you on a commercial flight to get back home after a medical emergency.</p>
<p>Well, this remarkable - not awful at all. The flight attendent on my trip the other day was at least 65 years old, probaly closer to 68. She was an aging gracefully grandma - no attempt at looking any younger than she was, complete with matronly figure, grey hair and wrinkles galore. I thought she was great but quite atypical.</p>
<p>For some reason that brings to mind that scene from Airplane, where the little girl with the IV starts going into spasms because the singing flight attendant dislodged her IV with the guitar.</p>
<p>I was on a plane once when a woman had to be dissuaded from changing clothes in the aisle. More recently, I was on a flight with a man who brought his capuchin monkey on board. He carried it in one of those baby knapsacks on his chest. It was very well behaved.</p>
<p>The scariest moment I ever had on a flight was when we were flying overseas after 9/11. As we were taxiing for take off, I saw a man in his late 20s across the aisle from me who was acting very strangely, continuously rocking back and forth in his seat, sweating profusely, moaning and groaning audibly, talking to himself in a language I didn’t recognize, praying, tearing up his paper pillow case cover into tiny little pieces and throwing them into the aisle. I tried to convince myself that a real terrorist would never be so conspicuous and was just about to call the flight attendant when one of them came over to talk to him. They seemed to know each other. Turns out he was just a nervous wreck, but he sure made a lot of other people feel that way, too!</p>
<p>last September, a man in front of me in first class (nice, quiet cabin) decided in flight to SLOWLY clip his nails. Three clips per nail. Clip Clip Clip. Next finger. Clip Clip Clip. Next finger. Clip Clip Clip. </p>
<p>I was seriously annoyed (and grossed out by the clippings flying everywhere) when he was on the first hand. By the time he finally got to the 10th finger, it was all I could do to keep from crawling over the seat and whacking him over the head. Almost made me wish for the early TSA/no clipper days…</p>
<p>Oh i have another. Years ago I travelled next to a little boy who was flying from one state to the next. He was an unaccompanied minor, wearing one of those big visible tags. We were talking throughout the flight and he told me that he was going to see his father’s parents, and that he normally lived with his mom, and only sometimes saw his dad. His dad had put him on this flight, his mom didn’t know about it, and he was going to another state to be with his grandparents. There were many more details I’ve long since forgotten but I was left with the distinct impression that his father may have kidnapped the boy from his mother, and was sending him out of state where he’d meet up later with him. </p>
<p>I talked privately to the flight attendant to made arrangements at the other end for authorities to meet the boy at the airport. When we got off the flight, the little boy was escorted with the attendant to a special area, and there in that area were the grandparents and the police, and two other people (this was well before 9/11, back in the day when people could meet close to the gate). I’m not sure what came of it but I had always wondered.</p>
<p>A number of years ago (before 9/11), H and I were flying overseas–we were traveling business class. Shortly after all the passengers had been seated, a man came into the cabin and started talking to my husband. He offered my husband money if H would have me switch seats with his sister??? Said his sister was sick and needed extra room. H said he was so surprised that he didn’t know what to say–the guy then pulled out a bunch of bills and started waving them at H. At that point, the stewardess came over and pushed the guy out of the cabin and told him to go sit down. We didn’t see him for the rest of the flight.</p>
<p>What I DID withess was a poor older woman on a flight in Japan who apparently had never flown before. She had to use the restroom, so got in, left the doorwide open and squatted on the toilet (her feet on either side of the soilet seat). The airport we departed from had the “hole in the floor with place for feet” kind of bathroom, so I am guessing she was unfamiliar with a toilet seat and how to close the lavatory door.</p>
<p>A 30 min flight being squished by an severely over weight (yet nice) women on a flight that had major turbulance (this flight also got deleyed).</p>
<p>Worst flight - Coming back from a wedding in SLC about 10 years ago, my family experienced what we now refer to as the ‘aromatherapy’ flight. Seems like the rest of the flight had been to an aromatherapy conference and before we took off were whipping out their ‘wares’ to share. (This was post 9/11, but pre-liquid & gel restrictions.) I was getting a migraine before we took off. By mid-flight, I had to take refuge in the galley, as I was light-headed and ready to throw up due to a serious allergic reaction to all the smells. The flight attendents kept telling the people to close up their junk, but no one listening. Some woman had the ■■■■■■■ to suggest to me she had something that would make me feel better. Being an EMT, I told the flight attendent I was ready to declare a medical emergency, which would require an immediate landing, if she didn’t get them in their seats with closed bottles. </p>
<p>Worst specific passenger experience - Was in biz class coming back from Amsterdam the last day of the month and a guy next to me started yelling at the flight attendent that the movies being shown (this was prior to VOD) were the next month and he wanted the prior month movies. You would have thought he was being tortured. Then he pulled out his laptop & a case filled w DVDs and found something he liked. </p>
<p>Worst personal flight experience was having both kids throw up on a flight (separate occassions!) when they were 4-5 year old.</p>
<p>I once was on a flight with a preteen next to me (not mine) who rode most of the way backwards. Every once in a while she would sort of catapult over me (I had the aisle seat) to visit her family. It was very bizarre.</p>
<p>Luckily I don’t have any flight stories, but my daughter has several. She has a life threatening allergy to peanuts and Delta has/had a policy that she was to be seating in a peanut free zone; this means 4 row behind her and 4 rows behind her were not to be served peanuts. She was on a 2 hour flight where a male passenger in his 50’s threw a fit because he couldn’t have peanuts. The flight attendant explained the situation to him, but he continued to carry on. He wanted to know who the passenger was; the flight attendance refused to tell him. She did offer to move him to another seat so that he could have his tiny bag of peanuts, but he refused. My daughter quietly spoke to the FA and said she would be happy to move to another seat, but the very sweet FA told her absolutely not; if he couldn’t live without his peanut, he could change seats. Funny that all the smokers manage to live without a cigarette for a few hours, but this man could not live without a handful of peanuts for one flight.</p>