As convenient as flying is, it can also be downright horrifying.
We’re talking bad turbulence, crying babies , and annoying seatmates. The list goes on and on.
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One person on Reddit even shared that a person died on their flight! Keep reading for more scarring travel stories from Redditors!
Warning: this may make you scared to fly again.
The international nightmare.
This Redditor was on a Thai Airlines flight when there was an announcement they couldn’t understand.
The Thai passengers looked terrified and put their seat belts on. After lots of plane shaking, there was another announcement that caused the Thai passengers to relax and cheer. To this day, this Redditor still doesn’t know what happened.
Lost children.
“When the airline lost our two daughters for hours, even though we had paid extra for stewardess escorts. We were freaking out and they didn’t even bother to apologize.” – Redditor AtlantaBunch
Maybe get a leash next time?
Food poisoning.
An airplane is pretty much the worst place to get food poisoning. People can pretty much hear everything AND you risk someone else going in after you.
Sadly, that was the case for this Redditor .
Lost luggage.
“Flew to Scotland from Australia with Etihad. They left our luggage behind on the stopover because they were running late. We had no communication from the airline when we arrived, were not reimbursed at all, they then delivered our luggage to another passenger, and then we finally got it delivered six days into a 15 day trip.” – Redditor scarletmanuka
The annoying seatmate.
I don’t know about you, but when I fly, I want to just sit in peace with my book or airplane movie.
I don’t want to be forced into awkward small talk, which is what this Redditor had to do when the lady behind him wouldn’t leave him alone to chat.
A smelly situation.
“A flight back home, got a middle seat and the guy to my right stink so bad so the natural thing is to get your nose as far away as possible and then came an old lady sat on my left with a really strong perfume that make me choke. Worst 6 hours.” – Redditor pandakun_
The eye of the hurricane
Turbulence? Pfft. One one Redditor had to fly through the eye of a hurricane!
“We flew in circles for an hour and ten minutes, with lightning on both sides of the plane nonstop, with turbulence that would make a 70yr old sailor piss himself,” they wrote.
The eight-hour delay.
“Flight was delayed 8 hours because of a faulty part. Worst part, the flight was from JFK to Rochester, aka a 1 hour flight. I could have driven there in a less amount of time.” – Redditor StormiNorman818
The hangover.
The secret to curing a hangover is sleep.
Unfortunately, one Redditor kept getting woke up every 20 minutes by the flight attendants trying to sign him up for credit cards and sell duty-free perfume. Eventually, he snapped.
One fecal matter.
If you thought going number 2 in an airplane bathroom was rough, imagine pooping yourself in your seat.
Granted, this Redditor was seven at the time, but the embarrassment still lives on since the whole plane smelled like poo.
The crying babies.
“I had TWO! babies with their mothers sitting besides me. I got the aisle, one was to my left and the other was on the other side of the aisle to my right. Not even 5 minutes after I sat down and they both start crying.” – Redditor poopellar
The roasted guinea pig.
This Redditor got the short end of the stick when it came to seatmates on a flight.
The person next to him pulled out an aluminum foil package, which contained a roasted guinea pig. “I nearly lost my airline lunch when he pulled off the tiny drumsticks and chewed on them.”
The farting passenger.
“On the flight back to school after thanksgiving break, there was a middle-aged man and his wife next to me. with maybe an hour and a half left, he started farting. it was bad. i had to hide my nose in my sweatshirt just to get some relief, but didn’t get much.” – Redditor bradzy
The broken toilet.
Passengers on one flight had to all rush to use the toilet before they lifted off since the airplane toilet was broken. That didn’t stop some people from peeing and going number 2 in the broken one, though….
Extreme PDA.
“On the flight home for december break, my cousin and sat behind this trashy middle-aged couple who were acting like they were on their honeymoon. we could see straight through the seat and he was doing all these gross things like whispering in her ear and licking it (ew) and nuzzling her neck and then making out with her.” – Redditor bradzy
One big mess.
This Redditor was sitting peacefully in their seat when the woman sleeping next to them started convulsing and puked all over their right arm and lap.
She had no recollection of this, but the Redditor was scarred forever.
No legroom.
“I have long legs. There were no seats with extra leg room available. I was sitting behind a woman, that I’m pretty sure, was so tiny, her legs couldn’t reach the floor. She had to have the seat all the way back, hitting my knees, and sit as uncontrollable as a toddler, having the seat up…then down…then up…..then down.” – Redditor justzke
The ghost.
This story is something else. Tragedy struck when a man died on this Redditor’s flight from heart failure.
To make matters worse, they had to go and sit in the seat where he had just died.
Burnt coffee.
“When I was an infant I was sitting on my fathers lap when the flight attendant leaned over him to give coffee to the person sitting next to him. Her hand slipped and the boiling coffee spilled on my bare chest (father was changing my shirt) and burned my entire chest.” – Redditor ut2018
Check your children for pocket knives.
Reddit user papereverywhere ‘s kids flew to visit their grandparents as unaccompanied minors.
When the kids flew home, their dad noticed his son playing with a knife. He asked how he managed to get it and his son replied that he took it from home and hid it in his carry-on.
Horror movies are a bad choice.
When Redditor raybanpat decided to watch a horror movie on the aiplane, they got more than they bargained for. After falling asleep with headphones on, they woke up to an announcement that oxygen supplies were dwindling. Terrified, they began screaming.
It turns out, it was the audio from the movie — not the flight crew.
Nice guys finish last.
When the flight crew made the announcement that business class had been oversold, Reddit user Anastik volunteered to be downgraded.
No soon after they’d gotten settled in their new seat, a young child came hurdling toward the lavatory and projectile vomited all over them.
The worst seat mate ever.
“Through the duration of the flight, she sweats, spilled, drooled, sneezed, and coughed all over me. By the end of it, I was covered with a stranger’s bodily fluids and about three rum and cokes.” – Reddit u/unknown
Hand me another bag, would you?
“Flying from Montreal to Halifax. Girl filled 4 air sick[sic] bags. It’s an hour-ish flight. She was terrified of flying and vomiting out of fear. Her seat mate[sic] was a mom with kids who just rolled with it and kept handing her bags.” – Reddit u/TryingToKeepItSimple
Does anyone know CPR?
A flight passenger began to notice that their seatmate was incredibly nervous. They began popping pill after pill in an effort to calm down.
After a while, they passed out completely, stopped breathing , and had to be resuscitated.
When it rains it pours.
Reddit user guitarsandguns recalls a flight where absolutely everyone on board, even the flight crew, became horribly ill.
they still have no idea whether everyone ate tainted food or what it was, only that the whole flight was one vomit-soaked nightmare.
Don’t fly after you’ve had Lasik.
Doctors will actually warn patients not to do this, as the change in air pressure can be excruciatingly painful. One passenger was in so much distress that a doctor who just so happened to be on board was forced to stick a needle in their eye to relieve the pressure.
