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?

Middle Seat Hell

November 11, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

At the time I worked for a marketing firm. I was just starting out and so I got to do the jobs that no one else wanted. This time I was flying around the west coast, stopping in each and every airport interviewing travelers about new travel products. If spending all day in nothing but […]

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Baby Gets Even With Rambunctious Rapscallion

November 10, 2009 Seat Stories

I was traveling on a short flight (about an hour and a half) with my 9 mo. old daughter in my lap. When I bought the tickets online, I did mark that I would be traveling with a small child in my lap. I ended up being assigned an emergency exit row seat. When I […]

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Frenzied Feline

November 10, 2009 Animal Stories

I was on a late night flight from DC to St. Louis. The flight was delayed, but eventually we boarded, and I settled into my usual aisle seat. I watched people board, and noticed a disheveled woman with an odd package. She was carrying a duffel bag type animal carrier that was absolutely squirming. Inside […]

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Beware Of Row 29 Seat F!

November 10, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

After completing a wonderful, action filled, 15 day adventure to Croatia & Montenegro, my Mother and I flew from Zagreb to Frankfurt, Germany with a 3 hour layover, and then flew Lufthansa flight #444 from Frankfurt to Atlanta, GA. Our Vantage Tour guide, Tomislav, had taken very good care of us and after living in […]

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Seatmates Bend Traveler’s Ear

November 8, 2009 Senior Stories

I apparently have one of those faces where, no matter the situation, people feel the need to talk to me. I hear whole life stories. I was flying from Providence, RI to Baltimore, MD. The plane, after landing in Baltimore, was then going to continue to Florida. An elderly couple sits next to me (I […]

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Like Pleats On A Dress

November 8, 2009 Portly Stories

Two years ago, I was in my window seat on the 2-seat side of an MD-80 and this very large (est. 400+ lbs) woman sat next to me, apologized while she put the arm rest up, and then then proceeded to arrange her folds of fat, like they were pleats on a dress.  She literally […]

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Jet Screw

November 7, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

A double-whammy… Dateline Chicago O’Hare… My Jet-Blue flight from O’Hare to JFK was slated to depart at about 9:00am. As usual, I arrived at the airport with more than enough time to spare. Everything seemed to go well despite a little unruly August weather. I was excited, because this was my trip home from a […]

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D. C. to Phoenix In Only 24 Hours

November 6, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

On a flight from Washington D. C. to Phoenix, I experienced a series of fairly normal events that piled up in a comical fashion that resulted in a 24-hour plane flight. It started innocently enough with the plane pulling away from the gate 20 minutes late. We were about fifteenth in line for take-off, so […]

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An Unpleasant Welcome Home

November 5, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I was returning from almost three years of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan on United Airlines from Frankfurt to Dulles and was feeling lucky to have been able to upgrade to business class. The flight was fairly pleasant until a few hours before we landed when a new, male flight attendant appeared. I was recovering […]

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The Pancake Flight

November 5, 2009 Portly Stories

I was on a flight from Phoenix to Providence that had a change of planes in Atlanta. The Atlanta to Providence leg was on an MD-80 and, sure enough, I got the window seat in the last row next to the rear engine nacelle. For those not familiar with the back of an MD-80, the […]

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Dubai Debacle

November 4, 2009 Airport Stories

I’ve been to Dubai many times since 1998; my last trip in 2008 was like the rest except this time I’d taken certain precautions. Many of you must have heard about the extreme punishments dished out to travelers arriving with so called ‘Drugs’, i.e. one man was arrested after he was found to have a poppy seed […]

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Agitated Over Reclined Seat

November 4, 2009 Seat Stories

I was flying on an international flight, heading back to the United States. Next to me was a young lady who was returning from her parents funerals (both died within weeks of one another). I spent most of my time consoling her. The gentleman in front of me reclined his seat, causing my eyes to […]

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