A few years ago I was flying from Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) to Cozumel International (CZM) on an Air Canada Airbus A320-200. Now, take note that I am an experienced flier, and even as a baby on a plane I barely cried. Now, as an adult, this is the flight that made tears fall, and killed what remaining chunk of my pride was left.
I was travelling with my family sometime around mid-April during our spring vacation. I was off from school and decided to enjoy myself during that time. We arrived at the airport without delay and were kindly greeted by airport staff, a rarity back in the United States, and were led to the luggage checking area. That task was passed with ease and we passed through security with no issues yet. I could already tell that the trip was going well; almost too well. Luckily, my instincts hadn’t been confirmed correct yet as the plane boarded.
Unfortunately for us, the seats my family were booked to sit in were located in the back of the plane. It wasn’t a problem though, as I’ve heard that in a crash the back of the plane was the safest to be in. I took my seat and the flight took off with no problems whatsoever. I settled down and began to watch a movie as the plane climbed to the cruising altitude.
About an hour later, I ordered some ramen from the FAs. I received it with a smile from the woman serving it and was just about to dig in when the worst turbulence I had ever felt began to shake the cabin. The soup I had just ordered fell over and boiling – yes, BOILING – broth soaked the jeans I was wearing. The turbulence was unexpected and unannounced by the pilots, meaning all of the other passengers on that flight were now sporting wet or dirty pants from the food that spilled on them.
Ignoring the searing pain on my thighs, I tried to relax as the plane was being tossed about. It felt as if I was sitting in an old shirt as it was being dried in an industrial-sized clothing dryer. Terrifying. As I gripped the armrests of the seat next to me and tried to think of happy thoughts, I couldn’t help but notice the rancid stench of vomit waft up from the front of the plane. A young girl sitting a few seats in front of us had thrown up, and the vomit was being thrown about the plane as the metal bird continued to shake. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about that at the moment since the turbulence was so severe, so the entirety of the people in Row 31 now had smelly puke spreading across the bottoms of their shoes.
At least the flight landed safely in Cozumel a few hours after the turbulence finally settled, and my family and I were able to enjoy the rest of our vacation. It was difficult to forget about that flight though, which I knew would be a memory with clarity in my mind for years to come.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Next time stay home.
Wait, what was so bad about this? I mean, yeah, getting hot ramen spilled on you would be painful, and I'm sure the smell of puke wouldn't be great, but you built this up like something really bad. Did you vomit too (I can't really tell from the way you told the story…)?
I'd argue that "the vomit was being thrown about the plane as the metal bird continued to shake. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about that at the moment since the turbulence was so severe, so the entirety of the people in Row 31 now had smelly puke spreading across the bottoms of their shoes." sounds pretty bad to me.
@RedHead0186 Believe me, it was terrible. If you think having someone's partially-digested airline meal all over your feet isn't disgusting, you should try it.