illness/medical

I recently flew on an international American Airlines flight. I generally try to avoid American Airlines because they’ve got the worst fleet of aircraft around, but their prices were so much better that I caved. Mistake number one (mistake number two was not paying for an upgraded seat on the plane). I board the cattle […]

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Mrs. Hocker

April 9, 2010

in Passenger Stories

In one of my trans-Atlantic voyages to Europe, I had the joy of sitting next to an expert in languages. I don’t remember the layout of the plane, but I normally take a window seat so I can sleep against the window so I am not completely zonked when I land in Amsterdam. I get […]

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The worst flight of my life turned into the all around worst experience of my life because it didn’t end when the plane did. The background info: I was returning from a friend’s wedding in the Dominican Republic, and like everyone else on the direct flight back to Regina, I had contracted the Norwalk virus that was […]

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I went sailing one year in Key West during Race Week. I helped the owner deliver the boat back to Ft. Lauderdale when we were done. The sail from Key West back to the mainland was awful. The sea was so rough that we had to just piss ourselves as we sat on the edge […]

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Flying home to Detroit from LA. If that wasn’t bad enough, sat next to a mother and child, roughly 7-8 yrs old. Kid was really too sick to fly as he coughed, hacked, sneezed while strings of mucous dripped from his nose. Did his mother wipe or blow his nose? No. Did the kid wipe […]

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I, like many others, suffer from “Sleep Apnea” and use a device that keeps my airway open while I sleep. It is called a “CPAP” machine, which stands for Constant Positive Air Pressure. When I travel, the device and accessories fit neatly in my carry-on bag which is then subject to a search by our […]

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I am afraid my story incriminates me as a passenger from hell, but it has to be told so that some people can see the other side of bad behavior and maybe sympathize just a tiny bit. Some people don’t mean any harm and just find themselves in a bad situation they never wanted to […]

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When I was 18, I was flying back (on my second air flight ever!) from visiting my married sister in Nevada. Now, in my extended family, I am known as ‘the sickly one.’ Everything that can happen does to me. On this flight, I boarded feeling cheery, excited, and well rested. I spoke to the […]

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I was the passenger from hell. I was flying from Texas to MD with my 2 month old son. I knew I did not fly well and had asked the doctor what I could take as I was nursing. He said it was quick flight and I would be fine. WRONG!! I had to take […]

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Air Sickness

November 27, 2009

in Illness/Medical Stories

My worst flight ever! Back in the mid-1970s, I boarded a small twin engine commuter flight from Amarillo, TX to Bakersfield, CA. It was a very hot August and the air was very turbulent. About midway through the flight, the air conditioning failed on the aircraft while the turbulence was getting worse. Shortly thereafter someone […]

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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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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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