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?

Smell Like a Backed Up Toilet In Calcutta

November 3, 2009 Odor Stories

Took Cathay Pacific back from Hong Kong recently. Was seated in 31B, a middle seat on the left side, between two men, both apparently Chinese (not that it matters). Anyway, during the flight, the guy on the window seat (to my left), starts smelling really bad. Not a pooh smell, but a really funky B.O. […]

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Second Time Flight Takes The Cake

November 3, 2009 Weather Stories

I have hated to fly my entire life, but when I was offered a chance to study in Ireland my senior year of College, I just could not pass it up. I convinced myself that I could make the 7 hour flight there, and I did. By the time it was time to come home, […]

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Bathroom Door Brouhaha

November 2, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was on a flight from New York to D.C. I got up from my seat and headed to the bathroom in the rear of the plane. I looked at the door and it said vacant. I pushed on the middle of the door to fold it in and open. To my surprise there was […]

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Two Separate Snot Stories

November 2, 2009 Illness/Medical Stories

I had to fly out West for a meeting with some colleagues about a web site kirtasbooks.com. Meeting went well, boarded the red-eye to head back to NY. I was seated next to a 60ish year old man in the dirtiest sport coat you’ve ever seen. He smelled like sour milk, but it gets better. […]

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Olympic Sprint, Suffocated, Lost Bags

November 1, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

My flight from hell was a trip from San Diego to Budapest. My initial flight to Amsterdam was fairly standard and uneventful. However, upon landing in Amsterdam is when the “fun” began. I had approximately two or three hours I think to switch planes. But because I was switching to a local airline from Hungary, I […]

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Two Kids Kicking Seats Stories

November 1, 2009 Seat Stories

On a recent flight from NYC to LA I sat in front of two children ages I would guess at 7 and 8. About half way they started acting up and I was waiting for their parents to settle them down. It didn’t come, so I put up with it for a little while longer […]

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Sinister Object In The Sky

October 31, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

I’ve often wondered if any airline passengers of faith have seen strange or sinister objects in the sky. Many years ago, on a Honolulu to Papatee (Tahiti) flight, I was peering mindlessly out of the windscreen into the moonlit night sky when something strange caught my eye. Borrowing First Navigation Officer T. Nolte’s binoculars, I […]

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FA Asks Flier If He’s “Mentally Retarded”

October 30, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I recently flew on business from Northwest Arkansas (XNA) to Charlotte on US Airways. It was an early Monday morning so the flight was almost completely full. I boarded and sat in seat 1F next to the window and had a young woman sitting next to me in the aisle seat. Across the aisle in […]

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Flying With Kato On Rocky Mountain Scareways

October 29, 2009 Airplane Stories

Living in the Rocky Mountains, travelers are faced with either commuting by air to the city airport or driving four hours to catch a connecting flight. To shorten the trip, many locals opt for the often scary, roller coaster rides, casually reading their newspapers while inwardly smiling at gasping tourists clutching their seats.  Several years […]

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Plane Backed Into Poop Truck

October 29, 2009 Airplane Stories

My wife and I were flying from LAX to Tucson labor day weekend about 8 years ago on Southwest. We were already about 45 minutes late before we finally pushed back from the gate. As I watched outside from my window seat just in front of the wing I saw a ramp attendant running towards […]

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Biker Dude’s Transformation

October 28, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was on a flight from Dallas to Atlanta (guess the airline). It was crowded and I was seated next to a pretty crazy looking, bearded biker guy that looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. I remember thinking “good grief” when he took the middle seat next to mine. The funny […]

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Kitty Stuffed In Bin

October 28, 2009 Animal Stories

My wife and I were flying from LAX to NYC on now defunct TWA. We were sitting in the first row of coach with 2 flight attendants sitting in front of us (facing us in the jump seats). Right at takeoff I watched one of the flight attendants say “There’s a cat in the overhead […]

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