Flights From Hell flies you into the crazy skies with stories about the adventures and anxieties of airplane travel.

Commercial airline travel takes us far, far out of our comfort zone. We're herded into cylinders that zip hundreds of miles per hour at 30,000 feet, subjected to security screenings, confronted with delays and lost luggage, rushed to catch connecting flights, constrained to small seats, scrunched up with strangers, and surrounded by pathogens. Is it any wonder we end up becoming a bundle of raw nerves by journey's end?

Pilot Encounters The Antichrist

September 23, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was recently flying the Boston to Orlando route when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I asked my copilot to take the yoke for a few moments and told him I needed to stretch my legs. As I walked through the passenger cabin, I noticed a ruddy faced [...]

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The Malodorous MD

September 22, 2009 Odor Stories

In the Los Angeles LAX airport, there was an odor wafting above the sea of people waiting to board a direct flight from LA to Boston. It just was awful, and I couldn’t identify what it was. I boarded the plane and was seated towards the back of the aircraft. I noticed the odor again [...]

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Newlywed’s Flight Filled With Pizza & Puke

September 22, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

So here I am newly married whisking my new bride off to beautiful northern Japan where I am stationed. The take off out of DFW was uneventful. Then as we headed northwest the air turbulence began. I assured my new bride that this was to be expected and as a world traveler I knew it [...]

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Lightning And A Near Collision

September 21, 2009 Weather Stories

A few years ago, I took off from Albany on an AA super80.  It was cloudy and raining when we took off, but everything went as normal.   We were bouncing around quite a bit due to the turbulence of the storm, but basically everything was OK.  About 10 minutes into the flight, as we were [...]

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“Picked Over” Luggage

September 21, 2009 Flying Hell Commentary

My daughter had a laptop and expensive camera taken from her luggage on a flight from NYC to Tampa. I once had a bag of expensive candies opened, eaten and the empty container put back in my bag. I don’t think most luggage gets “lost” – I think it gets held over for an airport [...]

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Baby Skylar

September 21, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

What better way to start off any trip than showing up to Philly International at 3:00am after driving all night from NYC, to catch a flight to Houston? My girlfriend and I would be connecting in Texas to fly to Liberia, Costa Rica which is about an hour and a half drive to Playa Samara [...]

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Rude and Clumsy Attendants

September 19, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

So everyone knows the pitfalls of Southwest – little room to move, crappy flights, and crying babies. However, I was flying back from Las Vegas with my brother, sister-in-law and husband (we’ll call him “Bob”) when I had one of the worst flights I have ever had. First of all, we got there before a [...]

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First Flight Fizzles

September 18, 2009 Portly Stories

I’m not what you call a frequent flier… I took the plane twice in my life. First time was in 1998, before security was a pain and at a time where flying was still supposed to be enjoyable. I was pretty stressed about my first flight but I decided to book a window seat. I [...]

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Missed Flight And Other Maladies

September 17, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Flight 83 is a “direct” 12-hour flight from my airport to Hawaii. That’s quote-direct-quote. It carries the same flight number for the full trip but it has a “plane change” in LA. I’m up at 5 am Eastern and at the airport a little before 8 am for the 9 am flight. The departures board [...]

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Ben Gay Brouhaha

September 16, 2009 Odor Stories

I was recently on a flight from Denver, Co to Phoenix, AZ. Right after we were seated, a woman next to me started rubbing Ben-Gay on her husband’s neck and back, not just a little, but tons of the stuff. My eyes started watering and my throat started burning from smelling it! I asked a [...]

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Luggage Left Behind

September 16, 2009 Luggage Stories

My father and I arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport 5 hours before our scheduled flight to LA. This being Chicago during the winter, our flight was delayed because all the planes had to be de-iced. We began to panic, as we would most likely miss our flight to Sydney, Australia. Once we arrived in LA, [...]

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Tinkle Ticks Off Traveler

September 15, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

I boarded a flight on Continental in which when I arrived to my seat the cushion was pulled out and had a giant wet spot. I walked against the stream to get to the flight attendant to let her know. She told me that maintenance was changing out the seat. I waited quite a while [...]

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