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?

Diaper Duty

March 9, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

I fly a lot for work and recently flew a relatively short 2 hour flight on a smaller regional jet with 50 seats. The plane was full to capacity. I knew it was going to be a bad flight by the sounds of toddlers having tantrums in the gate area and exhausted parents who could […]

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Two Rough Weather Stories

March 9, 2010 Weather Stories

Story #1: A couple of years ago my wife, daughter and I were flying from Tampa to London via Chicago. Leaving Tampa on a lovely September afternoon, we were about half an hour into the flight when we were told to expect turbulence as we got closer to Chicago. About half an hour later we were […]

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Advice Sought About Stripper Girlfriend

March 8, 2010 Couples Stories

On a relatively quick flight from Dallas to Orlando, I was seated next to a pretty cool guy around 28-29 years old. I usually refrain from talking to people on planes to maintain my sanity and to make sure there aren’t any false senses of friendship which lead to hours of conversation. About 20 minutes […]

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Assistance Requested To Watch Luggage

March 8, 2010 Luggage Stories

The loudspeaker announces the security warning clearly, “Do not leave your luggage with anyone else…” Yet, inevitably, someone always asks me to watch their luggage for them while they go… wherever. Once, while waiting for a connecting international flight, this lovely older person asked me to watch her one piece of carry-on luggage while she […]

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Old Lady Accidentally Opens Emergency Door

March 7, 2010 Senior Stories

Last summer a friend and I were on an Alitalia flight (Boeing 747) from Milan to London. Passengers were boarding and we took our seats in the emergency overwing exit row (I am quite tall and had asked for these seats). Across the aisle from us, in the two seats closest to the emergency overwing […]

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Special Carts

March 7, 2010 Food & Drink Stories

I was on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Orlando to London. There was bad turbulence due to weather, so they announced that the food and drink service would be delayed. After about an hour and a half, they announced that the drink service in economy would be cancelled because the drinks were falling off the […]

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Plane Hits A Flock Of Birds

March 6, 2010 Airplane Stories

This past Sunday provided an up close and personal assessment of the airline industry, an industry that has seen considerable changes culminating with many major airlines going through bankruptcy. My wife Terri and I boarded Northwest Indianapolis bound flight leaving Bradley International Airport Hartford, Connecticut. It should be noted that Northwest Airlines is suffering through […]

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Almost In The Mile High Club

March 5, 2010 Couples Stories

As a businessman, I constantly travel in and outside the continental U.S. For various reasons I have experienced nothing out of the ordinary for the past 10 years. All that was about to change, though. Last week I boarded a flight from Houston to LAX and took my seat in the first class section (not […]

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Dreadful Odor

March 5, 2010 Odor Stories

A few years ago, flying from AVL (Asheville, N.C.) to BOS, my cousin and I were waiting to get on the puddle-jump from AVL-CLT stand-by. When a party of seven didn’t show for the flight, we were ushered on to the plane and told to “take the first seats we could find” as we would […]

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Stinky Shoes

March 4, 2010 Odor Stories

It’s sad. Because of unexpected traffic delays, I ran like mad to meet my international flight and made it just as they were about to close the doors. As it turned out, seated next to me on the aisle was a soccer player. When he sat back down after getting up to let me into […]

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Flight Rerouted To Hole-In-The-Wall Airport

March 4, 2010 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Worst flying case was my 14-hour flight from Tampa, FL to New York. I could have used Southwest Airlines, which would have offered me a direct flight to Long Island. But NO, my company wanted me to save money, so I had to take a US Air flight, with a stop over in Atlanta. Tampa […]

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Hefty & Hirsute

March 3, 2010 Portly Stories

My story is relatively tame, or appears to be so until you put yourself in my shoes. I was on a transatlantic flight from the Middle East to the USA with a layover in Germany. Right after I boarded in the Middle East, some guy weighing at least 300lbs and the hairiest guy I have […]

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