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?

Voracious Eater Vexes Passenger

October 20, 2009 Portly Stories

I just came back from a biz trip to Cincinnati. I will be brief – quick flight from Philly, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes. Typical regional jet, cramped, uncomfortable for all on board. The woman that sat next to me was 280 (I’m being serious) maybe 300 lbs. I can deal with it, overweight people […]

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Cell Phone Conflict

October 19, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I was flying US Air, going home to Seattle from Atlanta for Thanksgiving. First of all I’m already mad that I have to pay $15 to check my bag. Now I am playing video games on my Cell Phone which has the option to shut the phone and wireless off and just use the computer portion […]

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Backdoor Explosion

October 19, 2009 Odor Stories

I was on a quick flight from BWI to DTW. We boarded the plane as usual and a man in the row behind me got up to use the lavatory at the rear of the plane. However, I guess he didn’t quite make it onto the toilet. Apparently he covered much of the room with […]

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Peeping Passenger

October 18, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

[Mature content] I was on a connected flight from DFW to Austin to San Jacinto with my fiance and our then 8 month old daughter. I wanted to take the late flight in hopes that the baby would go to sleep easily and not make a lot of noise (the sleeping didn’t happen, luckily she’s […]

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Diaper Change On The Fly

October 18, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

The flight has been going pretty well so far. Wheels up, we’re in the air for a while, no major problems. Looks like life is going to be good. And then, I smelled something… no… couldn’t be… has someone soiled themselves? I look around and to my left across the aisle a mother is changing […]

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Three Short “Flesh Spilling Over” Stories

October 17, 2009 Portly Stories

(#1) On an airbus from Dallas to Los Angeles (after flying to Dallas from London) I was seated one seat from the aisle. The man who sat down next to me was not only giant, buy very hairy and he smelled funny, like body odor and old food. He physically spilled over onto my seat […]

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Dirty Dingy Orange Underwear

October 16, 2009 Portly Stories

I was leaving on an early 7:30 a.m. Southwest flight from Oakland to St. Louis with a plane change in Denver, I got a window seat near the rear; later a fellow took the aisle seat no problem, plane is now getting very full. We are about to depart and from what I could see […]

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Raise Your Hands… Like You Just Don’t Care

October 15, 2009 Airplane Stories

In 2006 my now-husband and I were flying from Dallas to Vegas. Since my “spare plane out back” adventure in 2002 I have become increasingly afraid of flying, to the point where now I’m nearly crippled with fear. But I’m on this full plane to Vegas going over the mountains on approach. The turbulence is […]

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Spare Plane Out Back

October 15, 2009 Airplane Stories

In 2002 I was traveling post-winter holidays from Maryland to Austin, with a layover in Chicago. I arrived at O’Hare around 11:20AM, to leave at 3PM. Delay with the crew arriving, then mechanical issues, then finally the flight was overbooked. I should have volunteered my seat and taken the red eye the next day. Ultimately […]

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A Shocking Experience.

October 14, 2009 Illness/Medical Stories

I was flying back to Fargo from Boston after a spring break. In the six months prior to this flight, I had passed 15+ kidney stones. The very week prior to this flight, I had surgery to remove a rather large stone. After that surgery, I was given an antibiotic to help avoid an infection. […]

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Intimidating FA

October 14, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

Boarding a flight from Austin to Denver, I mistakenly did something to irritate the flight attendant. It had something to do with my carry-on, which was of appropriate size and in nobodies way, but I can’t remember what. Whatever I did wrong, it pissed her off horribly. She stopped process and yelled at me until […]

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Malodorous Mademoiselles

October 13, 2009 Odor Stories

My best friend and I departed San Francisco International Airport on an international flight bound for Germany. We were going to travel throughout Europe. The flight to Germany was hell. It couldn’t get any worse than this folks. We boarded the plane and I sat in my assigned seat. Three young French women trapped me in […]

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