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?

Airplane Door Flies Open

March 31, 2013 Airplane Stories

Many years ago I was getting ready to fly from Frobisher Bay in Northwest Territories to Hall Beach. We were on an Arctic expedition for the International Geophysical Year and had been flying in some very old aircraft during that time. Our whole team was on that DC-3 heading to Hall Beach in the Northwest […]

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Passenger Lacking Meds Suffers Panic Attacks

March 29, 2013 Passenger Stories

I checked my bag for a flight to Canada that I missed due to being delayed by TSA. I was rebooked for another flight later in the day, and boarded this flight. The cabin crew was very unfriendly and was insistent that they check my carry on bag (which was a delicate sewing machine and embroidery attachments). I did […]

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Polyester Leisure Suited Passenger

March 26, 2013 Odds & Ends Stories

Nineteen seventy-eight, I’m 17 years old, and flying from the US to take my grandfather home to England. He’d had a massive stroke, and needed a great deal of assistance. As his left side was paralyzed, I had to zip him up after he went to the bathroom. Since I was meeting relatives I hadn’t […]

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Stressed Out by Security, Kids and Sickness

March 15, 2013 Baby & Kid Stories

About two years ago an opportunity came up for me to travel to India through a program with the university that I attended. I was a little nervous about such a long flight, and since I was flying coach I expected it to be a little rough. On the way to India I “lucked out” […]

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Traveler Steamed over Slow Service

March 12, 2013 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I fly about 7 times a year for business and pleasure, and never gave much thought to my flight attendant. Some are better or more personable than others, but I’ve never experienced a flat-out “bad” one – until my most recent flight. Returning home from Tampa to Raleigh-Durham, I said “Hello” to the one lone […]

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Travelers Given No Slack for Slight Tardiness

March 3, 2013 Airport Stories

I am an American expat now living with my family in Barcelona. We moved from Seattle to become “global citizens.” Now we’ve begun exploring Spain and Europe by air and it has been both a positive and horrible experience. We had been warned about Ryanair, cheap flights but absolute Nazi’s about rules, and trying to […]

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Economy Flier Flubs Up in Business Class

February 27, 2013 Food & Drink Stories

As a veteran traveler for both business and pleasure, I am self-employed (and very thrifty). Premium Economy is about the most I would shell out for a flight. However, as my cousin works for British Airways, on the way back from JKF to LHR I was treated to the lofty heights of Business Class!

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Passenger Not Allowed to Pee

February 20, 2013 Illness/Medical Stories

Not long after being hospitalized for a terrible kidney infection, my fiance and I decided to fly from Tokyo to the Middle East to visit my family. We flew with a large Middle Eastern airline, which is usually wonderful; I stocked up on all my medications and supplements, and we began our trip.

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Security Contacted Over Offensive Comment

February 17, 2013 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I was flying from Toronto to NYC via JetBlue. The flight was really crowded, and as we were flying at Christmastime in poor weather, the flight attendants were very stressed – friendly and helpful, but really busy.

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Beleaguered by Babies

February 14, 2013 Baby & Kid Stories

Flying Cathay Pacific direct from Hong Kong to Toronto one August. Let’s count all the things that went wrong: 1. I sat behind two babies, next to a couple with two babies, in front of one baby, and to the right of yet another baby across the aisle. None were enjoying their flight.

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Passenger Suggests that Baby be Slapped

February 10, 2013 Senior Stories

I was on a flight from Toronto to Budapest a few years ago, with a stop in Frankfurt. This was on Lufthansa during a strike, so a lot of people were pretty crabby as there was no meal service (they did, however, give out large bags of chips to everyone, and still had beverage service, […]

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Horrified Over Treatment of Pet in Cargo Hold

February 3, 2013 Animal Stories

My mother has a friend who occasionally flies into a small municipal airport served by a commuter airline that partners with major carriers. When it came time for the friend to return home, I drove my mother and the friend to the airport. The friend had not purchased the return ticket in advance, so decisions […]

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