18 Airplane Passengers Who Had an Unforgettable Flight

For some people, flying by plane is an adventure, for others it’s a routine. You may never know how many peculiar people you will find on board while being a dozen thousand feet above the ground. And the stories in this article just prove that almost every flight can be full of unexpected and funny events.

• My seat on a plane was next to a sassy girl: duck lips, Dior handbag, latest smartphone, long painted nails. When they started serving food, they asked her, "Chicken or fish?" And she's like, "Don't you have oysters?"
  And the flight attendant replies, "We've got oyster-flavored instant noodles. Would you like some?" The girl made a face and said she wasn't hungry.
• On the plane, my husband and I were seated apart: he was a few rows behind me. He said he was going to sleep. Then I turned around, and saw him chatting with a girl next to him! And after some time, her head was already on his shoulder! I couldn't stand it.
  I angrily unfastened my belt, walked down the aisle, just to see that it wasn't my husband. The guy's hair was similar, but it was some other man with his girlfriend. Mine was sitting right behind them, his head leaned back, mouth open, snoring. Really asleep. Eh, sometimes I can be too jealous. © Mamdarinka / VK

• Once I was flying for 8 hours with a couple who even before take-off took out sunflower seeds and started snapping them, spreading the smell all over the cabin. And when the plane took off, as if on cue, they took off their shoes and socks and stretched their legs out on the armrests of the seats in front of them. © Bisquit / ADME
• I have a bad knee. We specifically bought seats where I could stretch my leg out. We even ordered a pillow for it on the plane. So, we and the flight attendant approach our seats, and there sits a woman with her 9-year-old son. And she immediately starts shouting that her son likes it here.
  One of the pilots came out and offered her to fly by another plane. She quickly fled to her seat. And during the entire flight, she was complaining that she and her son had been kicked out of "their" seats. © Irina Alexandrovna Shcheslavskaya
• I once had a terrible urge to go to the toilet during take-off, the plane was already traveling along the taxiway, and my stomach seized, I couldn't stand it! I know it was forbidden, but I still asked to go to the toilet. I was refused because of safety.
  I'm sitting there crying. They saw it and finally let me go to the toilet. By the way, it is something when the plane is taking off, and you are sitting on the toilet and holding at the walls! But I thanked the flight attendants for their understanding, because it was a force majeure. © julia-sp / ADME

• Once on a flight, there was a bald man sitting not far from us. A minute after the take-off, he felt asleep and snored so loudly that it seemed a motorcycle was being started nearby. It was the middle of the night, but nobody could sleep. Everyone was suffering and laughing at the same time. © Tatiana Novikova
• Once our plane had to land in a blizzard in winter at Milan Linate airport. In total darkness. The wind was terrible, the plane was shaking, and in the window I could only see snow and blackness. There were only total silence in the cabin and tense faces of the passengers.
  When finally the experienced Lufthansa pilots successfully landed the plane almost blindly, the passengers were almost kissing each other. 10 minutes passed, but the plane wasn't opened. Some more time passed and we were still locked.
  Finally, the pilot announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have performed one of the most difficult landing maneuvers of my life. But the airport was already closed due to a blizzard, and nobody was waiting for us here. The airport dispatchers informed me that there was no one to open us at the moment, as the ground support staff had already gone home."
  We were released about 20 minutes later. © Elena Gruenitz
• I once ordered a coffee without sugar and milk on a plane. It seems that my neighbor didn't hear what I asked for. And she ordered a full set for herself. Everything was free back then.
  So, when our order arrived, she started to get indignant and shout at me why I didn't order coffee with sugar and milk. Like, if I didn't want it, she could have it for herself. By the way, she had put her entire order in her bag. © Hanya Sadretdinova

• A friend was on a French airline flight. She went to the toilet and somehow didn't lock the door properly, and there was no sign that the toilet was occupied. So, a flight attendant suddenly tried to enter the toilet with a new roll of paper. My friend howled, the attendant also howled...
  During the remaining flight, he apologized and brought her water and other drinks, offered extra food... He got so scared, poor guy. © Maryana Fedotova
• We were flying by a Turkish Airlines plane. We boarded, sat down, and the flight attendant started distributing some boxes. I was sitting by the window, and didn't know what she was handing out. Then she handed me a box too. I look into it and it's empty. I look at the attendant, she looks at me, I show her the empty box.
  As it turned out later, there should have been a persimmon inside (it was a compliment from the company). It must have fallen out, and I got an empty box. The attendant was embarrassed, but everyone eventually laughed, and the incident was over. © Karina Bozhkova
• We once flew with a low-cost carrier from England to Portugal, and the flight was delayed for about an hour when we already boarded the plane. The female pilot told us in detail on the speakerphone what we were waiting for, how long we had to wait, kept us informed and made jokes.
  When it became clear that it would take some time, she offered everyone to take a photo in the cockpit - first children, then adults. I still regret that I was shy and didn't go, as if I am a serious lady. © Elena Makarova / ADME

• In the late '70s, I had a 1.5-hour flight in a puddle jumper plane. It was summer, and I was wearing a coat, and still froze on the plane like I'd never frozen in my life. The plane was small, for 8–12 people. There were no free seats to move to.
  I noticed that the air was blowing on me from the street through a gap in the body of the plane. As a result, I was so cold that I couldn't get down the small folding ladder from the plane. My husband had to carry me down in his arms. © Rimma Pokainis
• I was flying from America, there was a man sitting in front of me. He reclined his seat and practically laid down on my lap. So for 9 hours, I couldn't get up or move. © Vera Byzova
• Once I was flying, and my seat was near the window by the wing. As soon as we took off, I noticed a patch on the wing. And as soon as the plane gained speed, the rivets started to fall off! I called a flight attendant and showed this to her, but she nonchalantly said that I was an alarmist and began to comfort me, saying that it was designed that way.
  But I'm not an idiot. And anyway, rivets can't be designed to fall off. © Phosphorito Lumenoso
• I flew with a girl who complained that her husband cheated on her. Then she gave me her number and invited me to visit. Then she lost her phone and started shouting that I stole it. And at the end of all this nonsense, she found the phone under her butt and promptly fell asleep. © Aid JS

• I just remembered a funny moment about my flight. We got into a turbulence zone. I don't know how dangerous it was, but it shook a lot, things were falling off the folding tables.
  In general, everyone was scared, even the flight attendants left and buckled up. And I felt so excited because it felt like on a roller coaster. So, I never got scared. © Nas / ADME
• The plane was full of kids. I fed mine, took out my laptop and turned on cartoons for them. And all the kids came to us. It was like a movie theater, they all got as comfortable as they could. I was surrounded by children for 2 hours, and their parents enjoyed the flight.
  And in the end, no one even thanked me for entertaining their children during the whole flight, so the parents could fly in peace and quiet. © Alexandra Shatalina
• It happened long time ago, I had a flight from Chișinău to Athens. We were already seated, and suddenly the captain announced that the aircraft was overloaded, and 3 passengers had to get off! And the next flight was in 2 days. And the circus began!
  Half of the plane were a tour group, someone was flying for work for 3 days, some passengers were not from Chișinău and had no place to stay. So, in the end they asked me and another man to get off, because we could stay at home!
  I still can't understand how an aircraft can be overloaded! I have been flying this route for so many years and have never heard such a thing! © Svetlana Cuznetsova

And here is a list of things you should never do on a plane. Check it out.