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?

Turbulence Terrifies Travelers

August 17, 2010 Weather Stories

In January 2004 I was on an Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai/United Arab Emirates to Dusseldorf/Germany. The flight left DXB in the early morning, and just before take-off the pilot announced that there was turbulence over Iran. Yummy! Well, for the first hour or so nothing happened. We were served breakfast and I had a […]

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The Importance of Being Polite

August 16, 2010 Flying Hell Commentary

When you think about it, we are all just big babies who have been potty trained and conditioned to suppress our tantrum urges. The frustrations of air travel are abundant and impossible to ignore: waiting in line just to be told we were sent to the wrong line, weather delays, stupid people everywhere, harried staff […]

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Misinformation Causes Misery

August 15, 2010 Airport Stories

My story happened in summer 2009 on my way from Portland, Oregon to Frankfurt, Germany. As United chose to cancel their direct flight from PDX to FRA, I had the choice between a trip with 4 stopovers or just one. Of course I took the single stopover option and so I only had to switch […]

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Contentious Couple

August 14, 2010 Couples Stories

I was on a flight from JFK New York to Poland. While standing in line to go through security, a Russian guy in front of me didn’t listen to the security lady next to the checkpoint. She told him twice to put his laptop in a separate container, and I guess he didn’t listen. So […]

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Luggage Left In The Hall Gets Lost

August 14, 2010 Luggage Stories

A few years ago I spent a week with my mother in Rome. When the week was over we got to the airport to take our flight back. You have to know Rome Fiumicino is not small and we were already wondering about the many bags which were in the middle of the hall. The queues […]

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Desperate Passenger Demands To Leave Plane

August 12, 2010 Passenger Stories

I was flying from NYC to Phoenix, Arizona on American Airlines. My seatmate was a father; his wife and two daughters, who were about six years old, were seated in the seats behind us. The flight was uneventful, but to the left of the wife and the daughters was this really desperate woman. We took […]

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Unaccompanied Minor’s Airport Adventure

August 11, 2010 Airport Stories

It was summer of 2007 and I was traveling from Croatia to Columbia, SC. I had been to SC before – I was an exchange student there, and I was coming back to visit my host family. Anyway, I was seventeen at the time and quite excited not only to see my host family again, […]

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“He’s A Child”

August 10, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

On a recent flight to Edinburgh, a woman boarded the plane with 3 children (only one of whom was under 5, the others were about 10-12). As I boarded, I found a window seat but did not realize it was near this woman and her tribe of wild Indians. Before the plane took off, the […]

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Grossed Out By Gas

August 9, 2010 Odor Stories

Well, I guess it was just a matter of time before I had a story about a flight from hell I had. I just returned from visiting my daughter in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The entire trip was perfect with the exception of a young kid seated in front of me during the Hartford to Charlotte […]

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Passenger Admits To Causing His Own Problem

August 7, 2010 Passenger Stories

OK I’m from Germany and had just finished school. At that time in our town was the annual Town Festival from Thursday to Monday (Monday night is the last band playing). I asked a friend on Wednesday if he would come along to Mallorca on Tuesday. He said yes and we went to book the […]

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Flight From Rome Frazzles Passenger

August 6, 2010 Delay/Cancellation Stories

On March 13th, 2010 my flight was supposed to leave Rome, Italy at 10:25. It was delayed until 10:45. Then once on the plane we had to wait while we got inspected and that took an hour. We didn’t leave Rome until 11:50. Nine hours later expecting to land at JFK at 2:45, the captain comes on […]

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Passenger Upset That FA Wouldn’t Fix TV

August 5, 2010 Attendant & Pilot Stories

We’re on a trip on JetBlue from Orlando to New York. The flight was normal until 3/4 into the flight. As you might know, JetBlue has the free in-flight entertainment system. That is when my TV was encountering problems. We called over one of the flight attendants, but he couldn’t come because the pilot was using […]

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