[Amazing] 25 Unbelievable And Bizarre Stories From Flight Attendants
The life of a flight attendant may seem glamorous yet simple – jet setting all over the world and serving soft drinks and coffee – but that’s just a small part of what they have to deal with. A flight attendant is the face of the Airline, and they deal with people all trapped together on a plane all day, every day and keep them happy. To help you appreciate the staff more on your next flight, here’s 25 Unbelievable And Bizarre Stories From Flight Attendants.
Feature Image: George Parrilla via Flickr
One passenger asked for a women's sanitary pad because he was asking for every complimentary item the airline offered or that he saw someone else getting. Upon receiving said pad, he pulled off the paper covering the sticky bit and covered his eyes with it.
Casually lighting up a drug pipe. First of all, it's no smoking, at all, on airplanes. Secondly, drugs are bad, mmmmkay? Third, REALLY? You're trapped in a box of recirculated air, and you're lighting up drugs?
It's not particularly bizarre, as everyone dies, but it's a little stressful when people die on an airplane. The poor flight attendants then have to figure out what to do with such a person - respectfully. Some airlines carry body bags, some have a special compartment should such an incident occur, and some simply move them to first class, kindly tuck a blanket around them, and strap them in if there's no place else to put them.
One flight attendant got to experience blood dripping out of an overhead compartment...because someone had brought a freshly severed antelope head with them from Nigeria. As you do.
David Hasselhoff once (that we know of) serenaded the entire cabin. Against their will. Let's just put David Hasselhoff into the list of Bizarre Things Flight Attendants Have To Deal With, singing or no.
Pilots sharing too much information, or wrong information. Like saying "prepare for takeoff" in the middle of a 12 hour flight, or explaining how they had made a mistake. Over the Intercom. To all the passengers.
Sometimes people have mental breakdowns. Sometimes these happen on airplanes. And at least once, someone had a mental breakdown before the plane took off, called 911, told everyone she was an American being held against her will and that the plane was about to take off for another country. Turns out she was just crazy.
Some passengers have been known to ask for back rubs or neck massages. Just so we're clear, the ONLY time it's cool to expect an airline staff member to touch you is if they're performing CPR.
People doing yoga in the aisle on long flights. Because getting up and stretching your legs over the Atlantic isn't good enough?
On a flight to Australia, a Rugby team rented out the entire first class cabin. Then after the flight was underway, they proceeded to strip down to their undershorts. Perfectly pleasant and respectful, athletic passengers, in their undershorts.
Dirty diapers just left as a little surprise after passengers leave - in a seat back pocket or just on the seat. Or the floor. Guys, they aren't Easter Eggs.
If you think this is gross, wait until you see number 3!
Passengers who think it's okay to open the emergency hatch as long as you're on the ground, even if it's not an emergency, you just want some "fresh air." (Nope. No.)
Just so everyone is abundantly clear, trimming finger or toe nails and / or applying polish on a flight is NEVER okay, despite the fact that people do it. You're in a tin can with recirculated air. If you must floss/scratch/trim/pluck, please use the lavatory.
One passenger witnessed another passenger flipping out - cursing, yelling, degrading - every airline employee because she'd been served the wrong meal. This was before air marshals were on every flight and could have arrested the woman for verbal assault.
Flavor Flav apparently does, in fact, wear a real clock everywhere, and he doesn't like to stay in his seat during flights either. He's also supposedly one of the nicest celebrities ever and spent the flight walking around, talking to other passengers, and generally making sure everyone had a good time.
People flashing their private bits - whether on purpose or not - is a thing. If you do this on purpose, you are a terrible person, and heaps of shame upon you. No one wants to see that.
Emotional support animals as a type of service animal are becoming quite common in some places, and they travel directly with the passenger as a Service Dog would for a disabled person. So naturally, one woman brought her emotional support turkey to sit next to her during the flight. Though it should be mentioned - the woman in question had recently lost her husband, and shortly thereafter found said turkey as just a tiny baby, hanging out on the side of the road. She adopted it and loved it, and it loved her. Weird, but awesome, as much of the love in this world is.
People handing the Flight Attendant things like their used teacup (normal), some loose strands of their hair (not normal) or used tissues / a dirty diaper when the fight attendant had no trash bag or gloves on. (never okay, ever. Ew!)
Passengers tattle tale on each other quite regularly. Adult passengers, tattle tale on each other. quite regularly. Flight Attendants are not kindergarten teachers, guys.
A gentleman once asked his fight attendant if the pilot could shut off one of the jet engines so his son could sleep better during the flight. But just one!
People placing their infants down to lay or crawl around the center aisle. Don't do that. Planes are disgustingly dirty. If you wouldn't let your kid crawl on a public bus, don't let them on a plane.
Once, when a lavatory door was stuck, a genius flight attendant - who writes for "Confessions of a fed-up flight attendant" - rigged a maxi pad and butter to keep the door working, Macgyver style. Clever.
A frantic and horrified couple once ran down the plane to their flight attendant. The source of their dismay? A middle-aged woman changing her feminine pad. While in her seat. With zero shame.
A flight was once grounded before takeoff because a passenger ingested some PCP and was having a bad trip before the plane even took off.
A flight attendant once had to inform a passenger that while breastfeeding was allowed on flights, it was only allowed for human children. The woman was trying to breastfeed her cat.
Photos: 25. Michiel1972 via Dutch Wikipedia, 23. improbcat via commons.wikimedia, 21. Alfred Nitsch via commons.wikimedia, 18. supcompserv via Flickr, 16. Doha Stadium Plus Qatar via Flickr, 14. Joedamadman via en.wikipedia, 11. Back9Network via Flickr, 8. m01229 via Flickr , 4. Steve Karg via en.wikipedia