Almost Bonked On The Head By Overhead Bin

July 24, 2010

in Airplane Stories

Several years ago I was flying Delta Airlines on a short hop from North Carolina to Florida. It was a large plane and I was seated on the aisle in the front 1/3 of the plane. It was a normal boarding and taxi, but things got interesting on take-off.

As the plane lifted off the runway, everything began to shudder. This is normal to a degree, but the overhead panel above my seat came loose and swung down heading straight for my head. I didn’t see this until a gentleman from across the aisle launched himself over me to grab the panel before it could hit me. The flight attendants were facing me and could see what happened and were calling out to us to stay put until we leveled off. That poor man held that panel for over 5 minutes waiting for the flight attendants to come back to help.

 The captain came back several minutes later to check on us and then, you guessed it, used duct tape to put the panel back in place!!! I guess it really can be used for anything!

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Tired and jaded July 25, 2010 at 5:27 am

You were lucky he any duct tape left over after the repairs he had to do to the wings.

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Clare July 25, 2010 at 6:37 am

Captain Red Green at your service! 🙂

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Dina July 25, 2010 at 12:09 pm

Haha! Nice!

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Karl July 26, 2010 at 1:06 pm

I'm writing this on my "To Do List" : Any trip on an air plane , stop by at Home Depot and buy duct tape. Should I also bring screwdrivers?

Oh, that's right, they don't allow them anymore. I always bring a small tool set going on vacation because most of American hotel rooms I'm staying in (that means 3 star minimum) need some how something to fix. Most of the time a shower head, switch or headboard (former guests must had a rough night).

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John July 28, 2010 at 8:55 pm

What do you want the airline to do? Things that are mechanical and do break. There are not maintenance personel onboard to hold the bin door shut, so use duct tape to keep closed…..big deal it worked

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Traytable August 1, 2010 at 12:23 pm

Duct tape is a pretty standard airline fix for anything non essential… better than leaving it to open again and possibly fall off

Also the FAs would have loved to come help sooner but for safety reasons cannot get up until the captain says so… yes this includes if you're having a heart attack.

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