[stevesurf]

I flew to St Louis, then back to Newark, then I flew to Denver, then to Phoenix, then from Tucson to Newark, then back to Phoenix, then back to Newark, then back to San Francisco, then back to Phoenix, then back to Newark. This all has been happening over the past three weeks.

I've helped older women stuff their junk in an overhead, only to find someone else took my bag's spot, while I'm trying to be nice...

I'm sitting next to an Indian Woman who speaks no english, hands me her cel phone, it's her daughter begging me to help her mom find her next flight...

I sit down on the last leg to SanFran only to have the tiny child in front of me recline all the way back, and the kid in back kick me everytime I move my seat back...then the gent next to me begins squirming 'cause he has no room in this Continental 737...

I get on the shuttle bus from Phoenix to Tucson to hear all about how this young girl is hot for hispanic and black men only, just to spite her father...for the entire 2 hour trip...

I get on the Denver trip coming home, surrounded by no less than three colic babies. The screaming got so loud at times that I took someone's advice here and switched my e4s to foamies. I slept like a baby.

Got any airline adventures? Please share 'em! I had a few rough weeks, but I'm still standing

 

[soundboy]

This happened in the late 80s or early 90s, don't remember now. Happened at the now-retired Kai Tak Int'l Airport in Hong Kong. My parents dropped my sister and I off at the airport. We were taking the last flight of the day back to San Francisco on Singapore Airlines....

First thing I noticed was the uniformed police officer armed with a machine gun walking around in the terminals. That was very odd. Hmmmm....

As the fully-loaded 747 taxi down the runway full-throttled, we heard a loud bang from outside the plane. Sounded like an explosion, but not really sure. We just happened to be sitting near the wing....and I swear....we looked out the window and there were flames shooting out of an engine!! Not a good sign!! Since the plane and was just about to leave the ground and the airport was (in)famous for its short runway, I was doing a lot of praying. Of course, the pilot was able to make a safe return to the airport and Singapore Airlines was willing to pay for hotel accomodations for everyone on the flight because the next flight wasn't scheduled until the next day.

My parents got quite a shock when I called them from the airport....when we are supposed to be over the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

 

[cire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevesurf I get on the shuttle bus from Phoenix to Tucson to hear all about how this young girl is hot for hispanic and black men only, just to spite her father...for the entire 2 hour trip... I get on the Denver trip coming home, surrounded by no less than three colic babies. The screaming got so loud at times that I took someone's advice here and switched my e4s to foamies. I slept like a baby.

reasons why i love IEMs. *pats ER6i's*

the most eventful thing thats ever happened to me was being singled out by the TSA for a random, but very throrough check. it was like What, i'm friggin 16 years old... pain in the ass and took like 15 minutes...thank god i didnt miss my flight

 

[myself, aka me]

My last solo adventures were 12 hours flights to japan. so something like 2 days of my life have been spent in the air by myself. I entertained myself by speaking in japanese, which japanese always seem to get a kick out of..

The stewardess insisted i try some japanese beer but I said "it's alright.."

then there was a beer in my hand. Not wanting it to get warm, I drank it. Then I was stumbling off the plane looking for a toilet all by myself. Drunk through customs isn't very fun, when you're barely above 3 year old in language ability. Not terribly drunk, but dumb enough to forget your main luggage (luckily sent to where i was staying; although to be fair to myself they told me it was going to osaka and I wouldn't need to collect it.). Next problem, train transfers. Downloaded something from the website which told me to transfer at sakura station. Surprise ! talked to some business men, who got me on a train and told me to get on another for haneda. Transfer wasn't at sakura station.

Finally get to haneda. 10 minutes before check in.. Almost in tears. Culture shock, tipsy, embarrassing japanese skills, 8pm arrival (pitch black) = unfun.

You know what? Next time i'm booking a direct flight to the city I'm staying in. And no more beer. And i'm going to make 100% certain that my bags are coming with me.

 

[KYTGuy]

Once spent FIVE AND A HALF HOURS belted in a seat, taxiing back and forth from one taxiway to another, avoiding Thundersqualls, changing the active runway at Dallas-Fort Worth airport.....all for a two hour flight.

We were not allowed to go back to a terminal, because our slot had been taken by another plane, and they would taxi and then shut off everything and sit in the heat with no lights, no air movement, for half an hour or more, then start up, literally smoking us in kerosene fumes, and taxi to another hold short line-up where we would shut down again..."now, we are twentieth to take off, sorry for the delay"

It was about 100 degrees outside, and it was hotter inside the absolutely packed plane, and with nearly 100% human humidity, no airconditioning, and no getting out of your seat for any reason ("We might take off at any time"), no food, no drinks, screaming babies (needed changing?)...


Another trip, this time we were on very short final, just ready to touchdown in Baltimore, at the end of an extremely stormy and turbulent night flight from Miami, when the pilot performed the most radical maneuvering I have ever had in a commercial airliner either before or since...he poured the coals to the engines, stood the plane on its tail (deck angle had to be over 40 degrees up), and turned quickly to the left...(bank angle was over thirty degrees) and pulled some gees to go around - dunno whether it was wind shear, or something on the runway, but it was astounding to feel the plane shuddering and turning and mushing like that...overhead bins were popping open, and stuff was sliding around on the floor..the turbulence was so bad that you could see all the pasengers in unison compressing and then lengthening in their seats, and their arms would fly up...(we had been so close that we could see runway and taxiway lights just outside the windows before we began our thunderous go-around.) When time came to disembark, the Pilot was at the exit, looking haggard and shaken, taking the ire of the passengers before I am sure he had go and 'splain hisself' before the company and the FAA - the only time I have been scared on a commercial flight.

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYTGuy Once spent FIVE AND A HALF HOURS belted in a seat.

Well, I found this after some research; hopefully it'll give us some additional comfort on those nasty 737s and 757s

 

[plus_c]

So you're ensuring your own comfort...by ensuring that others can't get comfortable? Real classy...

Last Christmas, I was headed to Montreal from Greensboro NC to visit my cousins. The flight was scheduled for 10am...I knew it was a bad sign when a departure time of 12pm was posted at 9 when we arrived at the airport. We took off at 2pm, assured by the gate agen we'd make our connection in Newark. WRONG. We missed the departure of our connecting flight by an hour. The rest of the day (which happened to be Christmas Eve) was spent in the airport on standby, hoping against hope that there'd be seats on one of the three flights of the day left to Montreal. The last one took off at 7pm...without me on it. We ended up having to check into a local hotel for a night. So yeah - spending Christmas Eve not with family as expected, but in a hotel in Newark...wonderful. Next day, our flight's not till like 2pm. Take off on time, get to Montreal, clear immigration, wait for our bags...and wait...and wait...until the belt stops moving. No bags. They don't arrive till 3 days later.

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plus_c So you're ensuring your own comfort...by ensuring that others can't get comfortable? Real classy...

Actually, I never recline my seat until someone reclines the seat in front of me. Yup, because I don't think this cascading effect of one reclining on another and another is good at all, it's a simple solution.

 

[archosman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cire the most eventful thing thats ever happened to me was being singled out by the TSA for a random, but very throrough check. it was like What, i'm friggin 16 years old... pain in the ass and took like 15 minutes...thank god i didnt miss my flight

This is exactly why I don't particularly want to fly anymore. Wasn't it gsferrari who had an amp confiscated by TSA?

 

[gsferrari]

ehhh....dont remind me about that incident

My best Altoids tin amp is gone forever...it was a nice amp too...*sigh*

I wonder what they would say if I took this setup on board:

Sony D25 -> T-Amp -> K1000

 

[MrSlacker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by archosman This is exactly why I don't particularly want to fly anymore. Wasn't it gsferrari who had an amp confiscated by TSA?

he wasnt the only one. i think Jahn's cmoy is property of USA Gov. too.

 

[archosman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevesurf

Wouldn't you be screwed anyway if the center seat reclines?

 

[Elec]

I'm not positive but I think the point of that little animation is that the clips were put on the tray of the middle seat, thus keeping it from being able to recline. Odds are, that person would try a few times and assume their seat was broken. If they called a flight attendant about it or noticed you had done something, I could see an ugly situation I wouldn't want to be a part of...

 

[britishbane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plus_c So you're ensuring your own comfort...by ensuring that others can't get comfortable? Real classy...

NOT Classy?? There isnt really any need to recline. I'm fairly tall and a non millionare so I ride in coach. If I wear shorts I get rugburns on my knees, thats with the seat infront of me fully up right. If someone infront of me puts their seat back even a little bit I feel like my legs will break. I try as often as possible to get exit row seats so that I dont have to deal with this problem. Nothing makes me more angry than not getting an exit row seat and then getting on the plane and seeing the seat is occupied by a 5'5'' person.

 

[KYTGuy]

I am 6'5"...if the person in front of me reclines his/her seat with a bang, like they usually do, it nearly breaks my kneecaps...I get swollen bruises nearly every time I fly from just that scenario...at times, it takes weeks to heal.