Passengers share 'weirdest' things seen on planes, including unusual foods, bare feet and barnyard animals

Fox News

09-06-2025

In the "r/delta" forum on Reddit, a user posted a provocative question recently.
"What's the weirdest thing to happen to you on a plane?" the person asked — garnering some 2,000 reactions to date.
The user opened up the discussion by sharing a photo of a flight passenger playing a wooden recorder while sitting in a window seat.
"On landing/taxi, this fine gentleman pulled out his recorder and played 'Amazing Grace' for the other 100 or so people on the plane," the user wrote. "I'm quite happy he waited until the end of the flight."
The user added that it was "by far the absolute weirdest thing I've seen inside an aircraft."
Other Redditors took to the comments section to share the wildest actions they'd seen while traveling 30,000 feet high in the sky.
"I got stuck in a middle seat years ago next to a young woman carrying an almost life-sized doll head with a full head of messy hair," one user wrote. "And no, she wasn't a hairdresser."
Another user said, "I don't like it when people clip their toenails. I've seen it three times. Twice [in] a row across from me and another time in my same row."
Commented another person, "A woman put her rooster in the overhead bin, but it got loose."
Wrote one individual, "A woman across the aisle from me brought spaghetti and meatballs with her onto the plane, but she must have been in a rush because she was eating it out of one of those plastic thank-you bags."
Another Redditor said there was an "old dude who kept asking me questions about my job even after I put my headphones on (multiple times) to work — couldn't take a hint and then said I was rude for not talking to him."
Said yet another person, "My wife and I were sitting in 1C and 1D. The guy in 1B pulled out dental floss after the meal and started going at his mouth like he was giving himself a root canal. Full-on two-handed flossing right in his seat."
A user wrote, "The weirdest I've seen was someone changing their baby's diaper on their seatback table. Yep, the entire plane smelled of dirty diaper for the rest of the flight."
Another user described this: "Donald and Melania Trump impersonators [were in the] first row on a Southwest Flight. The impersonator knew that I had done a double take when I passed him by. I guess most [people] do."
Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog "View From the Wing," told Fox News Digital that flight passengers need to be mindful of others.
"Passengers have a zone of personal space on the plane that roughly corresponds to the area of their seat," said Leff.
"Within that space, there are all [types] of behavior that might come under criticism (usually in the realm of personal hygiene and grooming), but it really comes down to the discretion of the individual," he added.
"It really comes down to the discretion of the individual."
Former flight attendant and Florida-based etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore told Fox News Digital about different ways in which passengers can practice proper etiquette on flights.
Whitmore also noted that it's important to practice spatial awareness.
"The seats may be getting smaller by the day, but that doesn't give you the right to spill over into someone else's space or put your head on another person's shoulder — unless, of course, you know that person well."
As for passengers who opt to remove their shoes, Whitmore suggested putting on a pair of socks.
"From an etiquette standpoint, it is rude to walk about barefooted in a public place as many germs can be transmitted from your feet," Whitmore told Fox News Digital.
Leff noted that flying has become more affordable and democratized.
"What that means is that all sorts of different people with different customs and expectations are now thrown together inside a metal tube," he said.
"Air travel brings together disparate people in stressful times who act as though they're in private."
"Then add in that people may be afraid to fly, or are traveling for emotionally stressful reasons, such as visiting family, leaving home (or escaping a bad home situation) or going to a funeral," he said. "Air travel brings together disparate people in stressful times who act as though they're in private."
Leff said that he's seen people drinking too much, arguing with a spouse and traveling barefoot.
"Humans are strange creatures, indeed," he added.