22 Travellers Share Their Wildest "WTF" Flight Stories

Buzz Feed

a day ago

There are endless moments in life that make you think, "What the eff just happened?" From freaky flashes of nature to totally bizarre run-ins with strangers, we've all got a few of those stories. But now imagine that weirdness happening in the air — with no escape, no exits, and nowhere to hide. Yikes. Just the thought makes my stomach turn. I can practically taste those sad little airplane pretzels coming back up.
I decided to go WAYYY back in the Reddit archives to find this gem. When fesk asked, "What's the most WTF thing you've experienced during a flight?" I first kissed the ground under my feet, then immediately ran (on the beloved said ground) to share the wildest stories travellers had to offer. So buckle up, these tales will send you soarin'...
"I looked across the aisle and saw an old man and woman sitting together. I assumed they were married. Then the man reached into his bag and took out a large stash of porn magazines and proceeded to flip through them for many hours of the flight."
"I saw someone fart themselves awake, then go back to sleep."
'On a redeye, I had just dozed off when a woman passed out in the aisle and hit my leg. I was so knocked out on Dramamine I didn't even notice — just went right back to sleep. Apparently, the flight attendants put an oxygen tank on the floor, placed a mask on her, and used my hand to hold it in place. So when I woke up a few minutes later, I was like, 'Why am I holding an oxygen mask on a stranger's face?''
"One time, I was THE ONLY person on a huge plane going from DC to Atlanta. They told me they wouldn't normally fly, but they needed the plane in Atlanta first thing in the morning. I got great service by the way. Since then, I have used this as the setting for an erotic fantasy."
'I was flirting with a cute girl in the seat next to me while my family sat a couple rows back. There was an older woman in the third seat, and she noticed and totally played wingman the whole flight. After a while, I got up to use the restroom, and the older woman said she needed to go too. She goes in first, and when she comes out, I walk in...and there's a massive, unflushed turd just sitting there. To this day, I have no idea how you respond to something like that."
"I saw a gremlin on the wing, but no one believed me."
"A guy died next to me once. I was half-asleep in the second-to-last row of the plane. While I was listening to music and dozing, I suddenly heard a loud, hard THUD next to me. I looked over, and a man was lying on the ground, completely still. I thought maybe he tripped, but the flight attendant came running, and he was unresponsive. She frantically ran up and down the aisles asking for doctors. Luckily for him, the flight was full of vacationing doctors and nurses. The doctors tried to wake the man up, but he was gone. I was surprised to find out just how much medical equipment they have on commercial flights."
"My girlfriend's dad was a pilot, and one time they looked in the cargo and there was a dead dog, and everyone started freaking out. When they landed, they found a live dog that looked the same and exchanged it with the dead dog; problem solved. But when the cargo was unloaded, this woman started absolutely losing it: 'OH MY GOD, MY DOG IS ALIVE? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!' Turns out…she was transporting her dead dog home to be buried.'
'A guy two rows ahead of me suddenly started convulsing — looked like he was having a seizure. Then he began choking on his own blood. Total chaos. Thankfully, a nurse sitting right behind him and the flight attendants jumped in and literally saved his life. We had to make an emergency landing…and somehow, everyone still made their connecting flights.'
"I was on a flight home and was recently going through a breakup. While everyone was eating the plane meal, I was yabbering on about my ex to the woman beside me. Before I even got a bite in, people started to get violently sick. Turns out, the plane meal was contaminated, and everyone around me was going down. Even though there was a doctor on the flight, there was too much sickness to treat people. Even the pilot got sick. Since I had experience from the Air Force, and I hadn't had the food, I took over the flight to help do an emergency landing. Despite struggling with the autopilot and the confusing radio instructions for a commercial jet, I was able to land safely with the help of the team on the ground. My ex was so impressed that we ended up together again for a short time. But it didn't last very long, unfortunately."
"There was a kid who was running up and down the aisles trying to bite people. As he was heading down the aisle at full speed, a flight attendant suddenly pulled the refreshments cart into the aisle right in front of him, and he ran smack into it face-first. She said to him, 'Oh, sorry, didn't see you coming. You shouldn't run like that down the aisle.' I know she did that on purpose."
"I was flying in 2009, and they were switching from cash to credit only. They just got their brand new machines to swipe cards, and I was one of the first people to test them out. I ordered a seven-dollar drink. The flight attendant took my card, swiped it, and the receipt printed out as zero dollars. So, I left a three-dollar tip and thought, Cool. About 10 minutes later, she came by and asked if I wanted another. I did, and the same thing happened. So I bought lunch and four more drinks. I checked my bank account the day after, and sure enough, only the tips were charged. I have no idea what happened, but I tipped her well each time, so that was one happy flight attendant."
"My wife was flying alone, coming to visit me, and a passenger sitting next to her started peeing in a bottle, then handed it to a flight attendant, who didn't even bat an eye."
"I was taking a business flight to Chicago when, about halfway through the flight, a man was walking back to the lavatory but completely passed out and hit the floor next to me. People started calling for help while this guy pops out of first class and says, 'Don't worry, I'm a doctor,' and assessed the situation like a boss. It was Dr. Oz."
"About twenty minutes into a flight, there was a really loud noise coming from behind us. My stepdad asked the flight attendant about it, and they said, 'Oh, the door isn't shut properly.' Then turned the handle and locked the door."
'Out of nowhere, the sky just lights up. I nudge my dad, and we both watch as it gets brighter — like, sun bright. Then we see it: a meteor passing the plane, slowly. It was so close I could make out the fractures on its surface and watch little pieces break off and vanish into the atmosphere. Even the pilots came out of the cockpit, trying (and failing) to play it cool as they asked if we'd seen it. Easily the best flight of my life.'
"I was on a band trip, and our group took up the first ten rows of the plane. One person started throwing their pillow in the air, which led to another, which led to flinging them in different rows, which led to a full-blown pillow fight. Soon, the crew made an announcement to refrain from throwing pillows in the air. The teachers were really mad, but we didn't care."
"We were flying out of Cleveland, and the pilot came over the PA and gave his welcome. 'So we're just leaving Cleveland, we should be in.....ummm,' and then, slightly under his breath, he says '...Where the hell are we going?' Then there was a long pause, and then, 'Chicago!' Everyone laughed. Ahhhhh good times in high times."
"I walked onto the plane and gave the first steward I saw a bag of Hershey's Miniatures, and said that it was for the crew. The whole flight, I was given free headphones and unlimited drinks. I tried to pay, but she just kept giving me my money back with every drink."
"There was lightning forking AROUND the plane. TERRIFYING."
"The 'call' button above the seat behind me shorted out with an hour and a half left on a flight. Ding, ding, ding, ding...for the rest of the flight."
And finally: 'I was asleep on a flight when a flight attendant accidentally spilled hot chocolate on my arm. It startled me awake for a second, but I was so tired I just went right back to sleep. A little while later, they woke me up to apologize — and handed me a free shower radio. So there I am, half-asleep, arm covered in chocolate, holding a shower radio like it's totally normal.'
So there you have it. I'm curious, do you have any similar stories? Drop your weirdest in-flight moments in the comments or the anonymous form. You know, the kind that made you extra grateful to land back on earth. TBH, after reading these, I might need a few months on solid ground before booking another flight — kind of like how Jaws makes you rethink swimming for a while.
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