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?

“A Suspicious Package Has Been Discovered…”

September 27, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

I was flying back to San Francisco from Paris in April 2006. I was a senior in high school then, and being a French citizen I was in Paris taking admission exams for colleges during my 1 week spring break. I was scheduled to fly back to SFO via Dallas on American Airlines. Little did […]

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Burned Up Over Burnt Legs

September 27, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

Last summer I went on vacation with my roommate and her sister. I was flying back from Florida to Seattle and let me tell you what a horrible trip that was. I got up half way through the flight to go to the bathroom. I was wearing a pair of white Bermuda shorts and a […]

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Carefully Laid Plans Go Awry

September 26, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

I was flying to Istanbul, Turkey from New York, which is a long flight to start with. But no worries, right, because it’s overnight and you can sleep a bit on the plane, wake up, and be at your destination. Or so goes the plan. Of course, carefully laid plans and air travel never seem […]

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Bratty Brits Interrupt Sleep

September 25, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

On a non-stop flight from London’s Gatwick to Minneapolis, I was exhausted after a whirlwind 10-day trip to England, my first time over The Pond. All I wanted to do was sleep. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember ear plugs. I also had the misfortune to sit in front of and across the aisle from two little […]

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A Passenger’s Final Departure

September 24, 2009 Senior Stories

I was flying from Cyprus to Frankfurt, Germany on Cyprus Air. An elderly Greek woman had been in the boarding area and was struggling with a suitcase and many helpful people assisted her and I was impressed with the European people’s kindness and respect of this elderly woman. I was seated in my window seat […]

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Gold Digger Satisfies Senior

September 24, 2009 Couples Stories

[Mature content] Many years ago, I was on a flight from Newark to Atlanta. In the boarding area was a thirtyish, very attractive woman. And she was dressed rather skimpily. It became obvious that she was with a very old, likely wealthy man. The appearances were that of a ‘gold-digger’ situation. The flight was only […]

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Escape From A War Zone

September 23, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

This story never really made it to “Flight from Hell” status, but it contained all the stress levels of my worst trips ever and could have easily slid to a hellish trip at any point. I would say it was more of a “Flight from a slightly unsettling place,” but interesting none the less. My […]

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Pilot Encounters The Antichrist

September 23, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was recently flying the Boston to Orlando route when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I asked my copilot to take the yoke for a few moments and told him I needed to stretch my legs. As I walked through the passenger cabin, I noticed a ruddy faced […]

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The Malodorous MD

September 22, 2009 Odor Stories

In the Los Angeles LAX airport, there was an odor wafting above the sea of people waiting to board a direct flight from LA to Boston. It just was awful, and I couldn’t identify what it was. I boarded the plane and was seated towards the back of the aircraft. I noticed the odor again […]

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Newlywed’s Flight Filled With Pizza & Puke

September 22, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

So here I am newly married whisking my new bride off to beautiful northern Japan where I am stationed. The take off out of DFW was uneventful. Then as we headed northwest the air turbulence began. I assured my new bride that this was to be expected and as a world traveler I knew it […]

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Lightning And A Near Collision

September 21, 2009 Weather Stories

A few years ago, I took off from Albany on an AA super80.  It was cloudy and raining when we took off, but everything went as normal.   We were bouncing around quite a bit due to the turbulence of the storm, but basically everything was OK.  About 10 minutes into the flight, as we were […]

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“Picked Over” Luggage

September 21, 2009 Flying Hell Commentary

My daughter had a laptop and expensive camera taken from her luggage on a flight from NYC to Tampa. I once had a bag of expensive candies opened, eaten and the empty container put back in my bag. I don’t think most luggage gets “lost” – I think it gets held over for an airport […]

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