November 2009

Montezuma’s Revenge Wreaks Havoc

November 30, 2009

in Medical & Illness Stories

Many years ago I was on a return flight from Mexico to the U.S. The flight turned to hell when 50-75% of the passengers simultaneously had reactions to food we had all eaten in Mexico. At first, it was just constant people going to the bathroom with diarrhea or vomit. With about an hour remaining in the flight, a young man was so sick in the bathroom we could all hear and smell him. People were vomiting in the little bags provided for the smell alone. The bathrooms had lines the entire flight and they made an exception to let people from coach use the first class bathrooms. Some people and small children were crying and panicking. I don’t blame them, it was like we had been attacked with bioweapons. I literally choked on my first breath of fresh air when I stepped off the plane. Not the airline’s fault, but definitely a flight from hell.

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Tagged as: odor, poop, vomit

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Fuel Leak And Scary Hotel

November 30, 2009

in Airplane Stories

The day I thought I was going to London was a day that I was very excited. I woke up like normal, brushed my teeth, showered and had a good breakfast, then I realized I needed to go to the airport to get to London! I checked my bags effortlessly and went through the deathly security line. This trip to London took place in the spring of 2002. After 9-11 I was still a little cautious about flying.

We headed off and all seemed well… until we were 6 hours into the flight! The plane shook violently and sunk a little. I, along with everyone else on the plane, began freaking out. All of a sudden our plane turned around and everyone on the plane began wondering if we were terrorist victims. To our bitter delight it wasn’t the case, but we were over the Atlantic Ocean and the pilot came on and said that we had a leak in the fuel tank and due to not wanting to land in the ocean we were going back to Minneapolis. ALL the airports on the east coast were closed.

We landed 6 hours later in Minneapolis and were told to “fan out, fan out, we need to split you all into groups.” Once in our fun hotel groups we were sent to a “Shining” like scary hotel with red carpets and long hallways, plus I was really tired. The next morning I woke up and got to the airport dreading the next adventure on the plane which ended up landing in London with no trouble.

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Tagged as: hotel, near disaster

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Newspaper Reader’s Nettlesome Behavior

November 30, 2009

in Passenger Stories

Last Thanksgiving I flew from Burlington, VT to Santa Ana, CA. I used frequent flier miles and was lucky enough to end up with the final 4 1/2 hour leg of the journey in 1st class. I had thought that this would allow me lots more room than I normally would have in coach. I was very wrong.

The “gentleman” seated next to me arrived with an armful of newspapers which were promptly placed on the center console and then slid over until they did not encroach on his seat, but were significantly in mine. I asked politely if he would move them over when he had a chance. You would have thought I had asked a near impossible task. He totally rearranged everything in the overhead bin, including my carry-on which he complained about because his “carry-on” would not fit. Once settled he sat about “reading” his newspapers. As he finished each section he dropped it onto the floor in the aisle. Each time a flight attendant passed she explained that this was unsafe and would he please refrain. Finally, the head flight attendant had to talk to him. He asked where he was supposed to put them. He was told at his feet, which he proceeded to do, but instead of folding up the sections as he had been, he just dropped them, and when he finally finished he called the flight attendant and asked her to remove the trash. He spent the remainder of the flight complaining, as if by that point I really cared.

 So much for grabbing some shut-eye.  The return flight in coach was immeasurably better.

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Tagged as: flight attendant, holiday, overhead bin

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Flier Dislikes Chatty, Shutterbug Seatmate

November 29, 2009

in Passenger Stories

I was on a flight from Redmond, Oregon to Phoenix Arizona, happy that I got booked in a window seat. I took my seat next to a nice older lady. We started chatting about what was in the newspaper, and discussing an article about lead in clothing. Then she completely changes the topic and tells me about how she wrote a letter to the editor comparing Michael Phelps and President Obama. I do not like to talk politics with strangers, especially when they disagree with my own views. This lady was definitely against my views, but I kept my mouth shut and just smiled and nodded.

She took a break from talking to me, at which I jumped at this chance to get into my book and listen to my headphones. She was reading a book, but kept looking over and talking to me, so I would pause my music to hear the pointless thing she was saying, just to be polite. After doing this about five times, she finally somewhat left me alone.

As we descended into Phoenix, she took out her camera and was taking pictures of everything! She had been to Phoenix several times before, so I just didn’t get why she was blocking the window to take at least thirty pictures of plateau after plateau (you’ve seen one, you’ve seem em all!).

We finally landed (after her making some know it all comment about the traffic pattern we did), and as I stood up in the aisle, I realize she had been in my seat the whole time. But frankly, that was okay with me, as I probably wouldn’t have been too thrilled with her leaning over me to take her pictures.

Not exactly the flight from hell, but she certainly made it feel much longer than the 2 1/2 hours it was.

And to top it all off, her letter to the editor made it into the newspaper later that week.

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Tagged as: chatty, senior citizen

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Near Fight Over Reclining Seat

November 29, 2009 Seat Stories

We were on the last leg of a long, international flight. We board the plane, and when we get to our seats, we find that the rows behind us and in front of us are occupied by some very loud individuals. We weren’t too concerned, as this was the last leg of our trip and [...]

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Air Sickness

November 27, 2009 Medical & Illness Stories

My worst flight ever! Back in the mid-1970s, I boarded a small twin engine commuter flight from Amarillo, TX to Bakersfield, CA. It was a very hot August and the air was very turbulent. About midway through the flight, the air conditioning failed on the aircraft while the turbulence was getting worse. Shortly thereafter someone [...]

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Bouncing Leg & B.O.

November 27, 2009 Portly Stories

The worst planes these days are the Canadair and Embraer regional jets that are now used on longer and longer routes. “Worst” because of the 3/4 sized seats. Just yesterday, I was on a Delta flight from Memphis to Oklahoma City and was seated next to a man 50% larger than his seat was intended [...]

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The Phantom Kickers

November 26, 2009 Seat Stories

When I was about 16 years old, my family and I took a trip to Maui and my parents were generous enough to allow me and my younger sister to each bring a friend along. We were lucky to get a direct flight from San Diego to Maui and were fully prepared with books, mp3 [...]

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Plane Is Held Together By “Duct Tape”

November 25, 2009 Passenger Stories

“This is one of those things, that sounds worse than it is…” Has anyone ever said that to you? Does it ever make you feel better after they’ve told you the information? Well, this is one of those stories… So I was in the USAF, and was heading home to see family from Little Rock [...]

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Grandma Is Stuck In Dallas With No Luggage

November 25, 2009 Senior Stories

Well, this story takes place on a trip from El Paso, TX through Dallas/Fort Worth and then on to Dulles, VA. The trip out to Virginia was fine. No problems whatsoever. The way back however is a different story. I was meeting my 76 year old grandma in Dallas/Fort Worth. Well to begin with, I [...]

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