15+ Airplane Passengers Who Had a Shocking Experience on Board

Travelling by plane is not only a fast way to get to your destination. It can also be quite unpredictable. Some people have to deal with weird passengers sitting next to them, others find adventures at the airport, and some people are simply afraid of flying and get really nervous.

• I don’t fly too often. Maybe 1–3 times a year, so this was just by chance that I flew on my period this time. Anyway, today as we were going through security screening at the airport, my crotch area lit up like a Christmas tree on the body scan.
  I told a women TSA agent that I was wearing period panties, but honestly I was shocked that it lit up like that. It was embarrassing having her feel my whole crotch area. Everyone was watching. I’m still unsure why it lit up. © s***geogirl / Reddit
• A flight attendant once offered me a children’s backpack with branded toys because she thought I was 10 years old. And I am 21. © Overheard / Ideer

• My wife and I were flying from Paris. As we approached our destination, the captain announced that the airport would not accept us due to bad weather, so we would make an emergency landing in another city. There we would wait out the storm, refuel, and then go home.
  Passengers were buzzing, upset. And then there was a cheer from behind, “Hurray! I’m lucky! I was just on my way there. Now I won’t have to take another flight.”
  But I still remember how this joy was replaced by sadness. The guy didn’t know that according to the rules of international flights, he wasn’t allowed to leave the plane in his hometown. © Unknown author / Pikabu
• I was flying on a plane once and had an aisle seat. A mother and her daughter were sitting on my left by the window. As soon as we gained altitude, the girl began to whimper. The mom immediately said, “Go take a walk! This lady will let you through.” I did, but I didn’t expect to have to do it almost every 5 minutes.
  I thought the mom would at least apologize, but she just said acidly, “There’s just an hour left to fly. Why don’t you just stand in the aisle?” I suggested we swap seats, but she replied, “My daughter wants to look out of the window, too.” I said, “I’m not gonna get up again because of your whims.” The mom just mumbled something under her breath.

• I was on a plane recently and had a window seat. At one point, I needed to go to the toilet, so I asked the women in the neighboring seats to let me pass through. The one sitting in the aisle seat got up without any problems, but the woman in the middle seat refused to get up. So, I had to squeeze through.
  At the end of the flight, the woman made a passive-aggressive comment about “personal space” and how uncomfortable I made her feel throughout the flight. Honestly, I felt terrible. Didn’t mean to make her feel that way, but what else was I supposed to do? Hold it for 8 hours? © Some-Cable-4550 / Reddit
• Me and my friend flew with our children. We bought 3 seats in front of us for them. The kids sat down, and we were stuffing our bags into overhead compartments. Then I noticed that people started to turn round, and I heard my son saying, “And it happens, Lisa, that there’s not enough fuel in the tank or there is a leak. But the pilots find out about it, if the alarm system doesn’t fail.”
  Lisa crammed into her seat and looked at me in horror: she was afraid of flying. It turned out that my friend had spent a week reassuring her daughter that nothing bad could happen in the flight. But my son decided otherwise. © Tatiana Lobanova / ADME

• I once flew from Europe for work. It was only a 5-hour flight, but I was surprised to find out that most passengers were with children, many of them infants. What was happening on board the whole flight words simply can’t convey. They were screaming all the way, with rare 5-minute breaks. Older children were on par with them and threw tantrums from time to time.
  And when the plane landed and everyone started to leave, I have never seen so much rubbish in the cabin in my life. You could use a shovel while walking down the aisle: napkins, wrappers, bottles, and food were everywhere. The cherry on the cake were diapers lying on the folding tables. I came out of the plane with a headache. © Chief.Boroda / Pikabu
• Me and my family were flying on holiday. And we had a connecting flight. We bought tickets for the second flight with a big gap (8 hours). We didn’t need to change the terminal, but we wanted to be on the safe side. Just in case. And this proved to be right.
  The departure of the first flight was delayed. We came to the check-in desk of the second flight at the moment when it was announced that the check-in for our flight was closing. And then I saw that the whole crew of the flight attendants, who served us on the first flight, were passengers on the second flight. They, despite them being late, were let through unhindered, but our family was not.
  At first, I tried to talk calmly with the airport services. The flight attendants witnessed the whole drama. But none of my arguments were taken into account. When I finally realized the futility of my efforts to get a reasonable reaction, I got hysterical. I just stood in the middle of the departure hall and wept. And then a miracle happened. Our family was sent on board. © AriK / ADME
• Today a seemingly intelligent woman of about 50 years old was shouting that flight attendants should open the door right during the flight, go to the bottom of the plane to the cargo hold and turn on the heat for the dogs. And no one wanted to do that. Wow! © Overheard / Ideer

• I’m afraid of flying. One day we were travelling together with my little daughter. For some reason, the plane circled the airport instead of landing for over 30 minutes. The cabin was filled with smoke, and there was a creepy beeping noise.
  I still don’t know what it was. Men were wiping sweat off their foreheads, women were wailing. My daughter asked me, “Mum, are we going to fall?” And I tried to smile at her sincerely and tell her that everything was fine. © Overheard / Ideer
• Once I flew to a friend in another country. He begged me to bring his camera. I stopped by his place, took the bag but didn’t open it, and went straight to the airport.
  At security, I realized there could be anything in the bag. I started to panic. My heart was racing. Then it turned out there was nothing bad there. I’m such an alarmist. © Overheard / Ideer
• I was flying home, sat in my seat and plugged in my headphones. Suddenly, a woman comes up to me and says that I’m in her seat. We look at our boarding passes, and it turns out that we actually have the same seat.
  The woman immediately starts being rude and yelling at me, saying that I’ve stolen her seat. The flight attendant comes over and asks me to move. She sits down and again has to say a jab at me about stealing her seat.
  And then I decided to show my boarding pass to the flight attendant. It became clear that the first seat was assigned to me. As a result, that scandalous woman had to change seats again, and I continued listening to music with a smile on my face. Justice had been served. © LexB777 / Reddit

• I was on a domestic flight in Italy. It was a small plane. The pilots had the door open, and you could see them through the aisle. In the middle of the flight, one pilot went to the toilet (in the tail). While he was walking down the aisle, he saw his acquaintances and sat down to talk to them.
  After 10 minutes, he called the co-pilot. That one came out and sat down in the middle of the cabin with the first pilot and passengers. At one point, the first pilot looks at his watch and says to the co-pilot, “Let’s go, we’re about to land.” And off they went into the cabin. © olyamax / Pikabu
• Once we were flying as a family on holiday. I am not very tall, but my brother is bigger. As soon as we got on the plane, a flight attendant came up to me and offered me a seat in first class because I had the most status of anyone on the plane. So I grabbed my stuff and told my brother I’d bring him some first class food if he wanted.
  But as soon as we landed, no one from the family spoke to me. Then my mum took me aside and said, “You should have given up your seat to your brother.” And my sister snapped at me, saying, “You don’t think about the family.” So, now I feel lonely and guilty. © Abbyissost***d / Reddit
• I was coming back from a business trip very tired. On the plane, I immediately fell asleep. Through sleep, I felt that my hands were wet. I opened my eyes and there was a baby diaper right on my hands, and next to me a mother was changing her baby. I was stunned.
  And then she saw that I woke up and said, “Oh, you’re awake? I’ll clean it up then.” So while I was asleep, I was used as a coaster. I’ve never seen anyone that arrogant before.

• Once we were flying home from abroad. Suddenly the departure gate was changed, but instead of announcing it over the loudspeaker, an airport worker walked around with a flight sign and beckoned to people.
  I was shocked. What if someone was in the toilet or coffee shop? The woman soon left. I don’t know if there were any latecomers to the flight. © Cryptozoologist Mamkin / ADME
• I was on a plane. There were many areas of turbulence. The “fasten seatbelts” sign was always on, the plane was shaking. And a child of about 2 years old was running around the cabin alone. His mum’s in her early forties, apparently thought that if a child didn’t scream, everything else was fine. © SelenaBra / Pikabu
• I entered the plane, found my seat by the window, and there already sat a woman with her 2 children. I asked her whether it was their seat. There could be a mistake after all. She said, “I don’t know!” I called the flight attendant, and he said, “Oh, they were a family that boarded during family preboard, and she took my seat so she can sit together with her kids.”
  But the funny thing is that they moved the child away from his father, who was sitting in another part of the cabin. I don’t mind the family sitting together, but they should have asked for my permission first. And after all, the kids were not so little, about 10–12 years old. © Sad-Gain-74 / Reddit

And here are 20 things you shouldn’t do before a flight unless you want to suffer. Don’t miss a chance to read about them. This can be quite handy.