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?

Airport Escalator Injury Torments Travelers

July 16, 2011 Illness/Medical Stories

It was the first vacation for several years and we really looked forward to it. Our holiday, such as it was, started on the 9th of September at Gatwick Airport where, on arrival, my wife was subject to a fall on the entry escalator. The escalator had a direction sign for EasyJet departures but none […]

6 comments Continue reading →

Family Distraught over Fight on Flight

July 12, 2011 Passenger Stories

After booking into the flight for my family and me (wife and two children, 8 years and 22 months old), we proceeded to the departure gate. After getting this far we noticed that 6 passengers on the same flight were very drunk and had problems walking and talking, but were allowed to board the flight to […]

5 comments Continue reading →

Teeth Grill Left Behind

July 8, 2011 Airport Stories

Not a flight from hell, but a funny airport story. While waiting for my flight to start boarding, I heard over the loud-speaker: “Would the woman who left her grill (those things that rappers seem to wear on their teeth these days) return to the security check to retrieve it?” This announcement was repeated several […]

3 comments Continue reading →

Food Cart Raided After Passengers are Stranded

July 2, 2011 Delay/Cancellation Stories

While not as hellish as some of the other stories here, I did have a miserable flight. Flew from Dulles to Logan one weekend a few years ago for the high school reunion. Normally, the flight is a tad bit over an hour, so I foolishly assumed that a 2:30pm flight with no checked in […]

6 comments Continue reading →

Kindness to Ticket Agent Benefits Travelers

July 1, 2011 Airport Stories

It was February of 2010 when a friend and I decided to go and visit a close friend in Philadelphia. The two of us go to college in Texas about 100 miles outside of Houston. We booked our trip a few weeks in advance and planned on leaving Friday afternoon and returning Sunday evening to […]

2 comments Continue reading →

“Sleeping” Passenger Snatches Window Seat

June 26, 2011 Seat Stories

Travelling alone most of the time, I make sure to always get a window seat even for long haul flights. I do not need to go the bathroom often and I always make sure to go whenever the people next to me go. Also, I find the window a good place to lean on when […]

8 comments Continue reading →

Winter Weather Thwarts Traveler’s Plans

June 23, 2011 Delay/Cancellation Stories

My second flight from hell happened Christmas 2007. I booked a flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Portland, Oregon months in advance and I was really looking forward to seeing good friends again after quite a while. I was booked on United from Frankfurt to Chicago O’Hare and later to Portland. It was December 23rd and […]

4 comments Continue reading →

Tired Passengers Confronted with Tyre Change

May 27, 2011 Airplane Stories

This occurrence happened in 2005 when I was 15 and going on a round-the-world trip with my dad. We had landed at Heathrow after a 14 hour flight from Tokyo and had to change planes to fly to Paris. So we get onto a small BA Airbus without much trouble. Then as we are about […]

3 comments Continue reading →

Miss Psychotic

May 3, 2011 Passenger Stories

Well I could have guessed people of a less stable mind would have to travel too. Last September I finally witnessed this. It all happened on a nice late September day flying on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Düsseldorf, a 6 or 7 hour flight. Thank God it was on a day time flight. […]

34 comments Continue reading →

Suggestions for Improving Air Travel

April 29, 2011 Flying Hell Commentary

Dear Flyers: As known today, the flying public’s decency and manners has plummeted. This is this case for nearly all ages and genders. Babies who cry and scream, seniors who think they own the place by bossing younger generations around such as having them lift their suitcases and ignoring others or causing discomfort, to kids […]

14 comments Continue reading →

Nervous About Nosedives

April 22, 2011 Weather Stories

I always knew that international flights, especially ones going across the Pacific ocean, were a little bumpy. I was never afraid of flying when I was a kid, I loved every aspect of it. And I don’t remember ever being afraid or even noticing turbulence. A few years ago, I suddenly became TERRIFIED of flying. […]

10 comments Continue reading →

Upset About USA Security

April 3, 2011 Airport Stories

I fly from Norway to USA once or twice a year. Usually I use SAS, from Bergen to Kastrup, Copenhagen, then from Kastrup, Copenhagen to Dulles Washington. This usually goes smoothly; check in Bergen and going all the way through to Dulles Washington, just interrupted by showing my passport at Kastrup. Then just go straight […]

13 comments Continue reading →



← Previous Entries

Next Entries →