Chris Hutchings wrote:
“A friend of mine worked with a European airline and often flew a triangular route with an empty sector in the middle. If the plane was empty, the crew sat on tea trays and raced them, toboggan-style, down the aisles during takeoff.”
Bob Gillen wrote:
“On a flight from Glasgow to London, the aircraft hit some turbulence and dropped like a stone. Stomaches lurched into throats and all the passengers screamed until the aircraft righted itself and resumed its flight. The eerie silence immediately after this incident was broken by howls of laughter when a toddler at the front of the plane shouted at the top of his voice: ‘Again, again, again!’”
Chris Frankland wrote:
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“Malaysian Airlines, New Year’s Eve, flying to Australia: as the plane flies through the time zone, they surprise us by switching all the lights on, waking us up, to wish us a happy new year. The lights came on to reveal a couple who were in the middle of a mile-high bonk. The whole cabin stood up and applauded them.”
Bill Taylor wrote:
“Flew with an Ethiopian airline in the 90’s, in flight meal was a treacle sandwich and a can of Lilt.”
John Smith wrote:
“I remember a Virgin Express flight between LHR and Brussels. I sat with my then 7 year old son, who didn’t want to sit with his seat-belt on. As a steward walked by, my son told him that the plastic window surround was cracked. Without a breath, the steward told my son not to touch it, as the window might fall out and as he wasn’t wearing his belt, he’d be sucked out and killed! Since that day, many years ago, my son always wears his seatbelt!”
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Mark Hollett wrote:
“An EasyJet flight from Liverpool to Berlin had been delayed by a couple of hours, and as we taxied to the terminal at Schoenefeld, the pursor came over the tannoy to give the usual welcome speech. In addition to apologizing for the delay, which was ‘due to circumstances outside of the control of the cabin crew’, he added “some of you were very rude to us about this, and I’d just like you to think about your actions on your way into Berlin.” Talk about being put on the naughty step!”
D J wrote:
“My husband and I were flying first class. They were serving omelettes or a fruit plate for breakfast. When they got to us, we requested the omelette and the F/A very rudely told us that they were gone and we’d have to settle for fruit. A bit later, I went to the lavatory and lo and behold, the F/A’s were in their jump seats enjoying the omelettes meant for the paying passengers.”
Jacqui de Silva wrote:
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“While working as a trolley dolly on a charter airline some years ago, an elderly gentleman asked if he could go up on the flight deck. After checking with the pilot, I told him to walk up to the front of the plane and wait his turn. After a few minutes, a door opened and a rather prim and proper-looking lady walked out. ‘It must have been quite fascinating in there’ said the old boy. ‘Pardon?’ came the reply. ‘It must have been quite an experience’ he said. Only then did he realise she had just left the toilet!”
David Stancomb wrote:
“As an engineer who does a fair bit of flying to and fro, you come cross all kinds of things. One passenger screaming that the wing was on fire. She could see flames and smoke on the wing. The aircraft was being de-iced at the time and she could see the red navigation light through the haze of spray. The excitement died out when I pointed out that there was a green fire on the other wing!”
Ron Man wrote:
“I was on board a Cyprus Airways A330 from London to Larnaca and the plane was positioned on the main runway and ready for take off, but the captain suddenly pulls full right and goes off the runway and announces that there is a technical issue, and we will have to go to the maintenance area. Funny enough, I was sitting right behind the wing, and all I could see being done from my side was a fuel truck arrive, pump some fuel in, and then were were off about an hour later.”
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Bob Gillen wrote:
“On a flight from Galsgow to London, the aircraft hit some turbulence and suddenly dropped like a stone for what seemed like an eternity. Stomachs in throats, gasps and screams from all the passengers until the aircraft stopped dropping and resumed its flight. The eerie silence immediately after this incident was broken by howls of laughter from the passengers when a toddler at the front of the plane, who shouted at the top of his voice ‘again, again, again!’”
Laura Small wrote:
“One of my favourite stories from my time as cabin crew involved an elderly, but glamorous icon of British cinema. In spite of the crews best efforts to shoe-horn a dozen full length minks into a post-it notes worth of hanging space the inevitable happened and they finally ran out of room. A short fused female passenger whose fur coat could not be accomodated had a melt down involving much finger jabbing and threats. It was then that ‘the icon’ made an appearance. Sashaying down the cabin in a blitz of diamonds and lipgloss she slipped her own full length mink from her shoulders and threw it into an overhead bin. She then fixed the woman with a pointed stare and said: “Darling real fur doesn’t crease”. The crew didn’t hear a peep out of the woman for the rest of the flight.”