It’s pretty common to hear crazy work stories from people like servers, nurses, and teachers. But what about flight attendants? They get locked up in aircrafts with hundreds of people every working day. To say they have seen some stuff is an understatement! Flight attendants share their worst passenger experiences. This content has been edited for clarity.
Low Blow
“Our trip took off out of San Francisco without incident. As soon as we leveled off, we began the beverage service. A very tall man in his mid-thirties seemed unusually quiet and a bit anxious. He wouldn’t make eye contact with us and refused anything to drink. I thought perhaps he was a frightened flyer and I decided to keep an eye on him in case he needed intervention.
When we started the meal service, he still seemed agitated. When we got to him, I asked if he had any concerns. He looked at me and said no and then took dinner. Something was wrong, I just couldn’t tell what. After we cleared the trays and started the movie, I sat on the farthest aft jumpseat to sort through some papers.
The anxious man stood up and walked down the aisle towards me. I couldn’t see his face clearly until he got closer because we had dimmed the lights in the cabin for the movie. When he was about six feet away, I saw the extreme anger in his attitude, expression, and walk. I stood up because I didn’t want to be trapped sitting down. I knew a blow was coming.
He hit me in the face with a closed fist and I was slammed back into the cabin fuselage. It all happened so fast that I actually hardly felt it– just an ache to the side of my face. As soon as it happened, the man looked more surprised than I was, as though he was snapped back to reality. I was blocked from getting away but I realized I was no longer in danger. He stood there, with his head dropped forward, and was telling me he didn’t know what he was doing. He asked my forgiveness and I knew he meant it.
‘Yes, just go sit down. You’ll be alright,’ I said. He returned to his seat.
We informed the cockpit and they called ahead for support in Philadelphia. I went to the lower lobe galley away from the passengers, sat alone, and started to cry. I was really brave until then but I guess I had emotions that had to come out. I stayed there until landing when I returned to my jumpseat.
Security met the plane but I chose not to press charges as long as the man got help. The man who hit me didn’t do it with malice, he had a problem he needed to solve. I went to the layover hotel in the limo and went out to dinner with the crew. Flight attendants are the best support for each other and it was great to laugh, talk about what happened, and examine every angle of the day until all the fear was gone.”
The Dirty Deed
“Plenty of hooking up goes on. First-class suites with closed doors usually require a knock on the door to notify people that their ‘banging’ is being disruptive to other passengers.
The worst scenario I ever encountered was when two separate passengers traveling alone struck up a conversation in the back row of economy. It was ‘just to be polite’ sounding at first and they both seemed like average passengers, nothing stood out. This was a long overnight flight from Dubai to Sydney.
Halfway through the night, as I was walking through the dark aisles to visit the economy crew, the cabin was dead quiet with most people sleeping. Except that as I approached the back of the cabin, I heard moaning. I initially thought someone sounded unwell so I scanned the cabin. Well, that was when I saw a lady sitting on a man’s lap, both facing forward in the same direction. They were completely inebriated and clearly thought everyone else was asleep so ‘Why not?’
They were so into it as I passed through that they really didn’t notice me until I cleared my throat and asked them to stop.
It gets worse.
At the end of the flight, prior to getting off, the crew was required to pick up the blankets and bag them for the cleaners. Lo and behold, one of the economy crew members found used feminine products beneath the seat in a cup. Not only did they hook up in the cabin for all to see, but the woman also had her monthly. Beyond disgusting.”
What’s In The Bag
“Years ago, I sat next to a seasoned flight attendant on a Boston-LAX flight. There was an empty seat next to me in first class and when there was no one left on the upgrade list, the airline put one of their own in the seat as she was heading to LA to staff another flight. She was incredibly nice and when I asked, ‘What are some of the weirdest things you’ve seen?’ she proceeded to tell me a series of awesome stories for about two hours.
Back in the halcyon pre-9/11 days, she was a rookie flight attendant on a flight from the U.S. to another country. Boarding the flight were several citizens of said country — clearly a family traveling together — and they were having real trouble putting a rather large duffle bag in the overhead bin. It was just too long and bulky to fit. They’d hoist it and then it would fall. Or, once hoisted, they couldn’t stuff it in the bin.
When the flight attendant went to try to help, the family started shouting and waving their hands to move away and not touch the bag. The closer she got, the louder they screamed, men and women included. The flight attendant stood watching, knowing at some point the family would have to give up and check the darn mega-duffel. All of a sudden, the duffel fell to the aisle again but this time a HUMAN ARM popped out of the zipper!
Yep, it was a DEAD BODY.
Chaos ensued. Passengers were shrieking and the family members were wailing and crying. Apparently, in the family’s home country, it was customary to bury loved ones within 24 hours of death. They were trying to take grandpa home with them for burial. It was too expensive and time-consuming to ship the body, and hey, they weren’t going to relegate gramps to the cargo hold.
And no, the plane never took off. The ensuing brouhaha brought aboard customs officials, medical inspectors, airport police, and of course airline staff to handle the freaked out passengers.
I asked her how a family of four could lug a super heavy dead-body-duffle-bag past the gate agents.
She replied, ‘Back in those days, the gate agents rarely did anything. They let the flight attendants on board deal with all the problems. It would never happen in the TSA era we are in now.’
Her second-best story? The venture capitalist traveling with his personal dominatrix. But that one writes itself.”
Bathroom Break
“I was working a red-eye from San Francisco to Chicago and after a quick snack service in first class, the passengers were all sound asleep. The other first-class attendant and I would check the aisle periodically in case someone awakened and wanted something, but it was a very quiet flight.
Suddenly, the other flight attendant came bolting back into the galley with her eyes wide, and said,
‘What are we going to do?’
‘About what?’ I asked.
She told me the man in the aisle seat in the first row had stood up and unzipped his pants. I immediately went into the aisle and realized he was sound asleep. He stood facing the seat and was urinating on the seat cushion. He then reached out as to ‘flush’ a nonexistent handle on the headrest. Then he sat down!
Most business people flying night flights have to go to work when they arrive at their destination and we didn’t want him to have wet pants to do that. Our solution was to take a blanket from the overhead bin, fold it, and then as I tilted the man forward (he wasn’t a very big man), she slipped the blanket under him. I was so relieved that he didn’t wake up.
As it was, we had another three hours on the flight. When he awakened upon descent, he was none the wiser. When he walked off the flight, his pants were a bit wrinkled but adequately presentable.
Airplanes have an extremely dry atmosphere and we knew his pants would be dry by landing. I’m so grateful that no other passenger saw what happened and I am even more grateful this passenger never knew what he did. He was quite innocent and I think he would have been so embarrassed.
I have had several questions about this and I’m sorry I didn’t add what happened with the seat cushion! We, of course, informed the cockpit and they radioed ahead so cabin service would have a new seat cushion available. I doubted the soiled cushion could be salvaged.”
Laptop Guy
“I’ve seen my fair share of ‘shady’ activities on flights, but there is one in particular that really sticks out. I’m always shocked on long fights when adults choose R-rated movie content containing inappropriate scenes when seated in the same row as kids. With the advent of WiFi, iPads, and laptops, the worst by far was a guy surfing adult content and replaying downloaded files on his laptop. On that flight, a family of five sat with the husband, wife, and youngest daughter together in one row and their older two kids across the aisle in the same row.
The oldest daughter looked to be about thirteen years old and her little brother looked to be about ten years old. The guy with the laptop was sitting on the window seat next to the young boy. About an hour into the flight, I noticed the laptop guy was watching movies in full screen. He was watching vulgar adult content or some simulated act in an R or NC-17 movie. I noticed the young boy in the center seat glued to the action on the adjacent laptop screen.
Shortly after, his sister noticed her brother staring at the guy’s laptop and glanced over. She started a commotion elbowing her little brother. The two kids tussled briefly and then the daughter started watching on the laptop as well. It was all very inappropriate. The laptop guy seemed largely unaware of anything, choosing to focus on the movie or simply trying not to draw more attention to himself.
After about a half hour, the guy put the laptop away and asked the kids to let him out to use the restroom. The young boy in the middle seat stayed in his seat but the girl in the aisle seat got up and moved into the aisle thinking the man would be exiting the row to the rear bathroom. Instead, he got up and rubbed up against the young girl as he maneuvered around her to help himself to the first-class restroom. He was gone for five minutes and during that time I could tell the little girl was upset by the unwelcome contact she had with him.
She watched the aisle for him to exit the restroom and nervously looked around not knowing what to do. When the guy came out, I could see the fear in her eyes as she looked around madly and wasn’t able to say anything to her father. She popped up out of her seat and looked around. As he approached, he had this smug grin on his face like he was enjoying the situation. The girl glanced back at me and I motioned for her to step back my way. As she did, I moved ahead of her row so her father couldn’t see what was about to take place.
The aisles were wider in this flight than most to where two adults could barely pass sideways. The man seemed annoyed that I would block his path and his view of the little girl. We both turned sideways and cleared the aisle face to face as we passed. I whispered to him,
‘You do that again, I’ll kill you.’
I enjoyed seeing the shock and fear in his eyes. I paused to watch him take his seat. The little girl waited to retake her seat but I could tell from the look on her face that she appreciated the gesture. When I returned to their row, the laptop guy was looking out the window and refused to make eye contact with anyone. We landed about fifteen minutes later.
When deplaning, the family of five left first but the laptop guy opted to remain in his seat. The little girl looked back as she left as if to say ‘Thanks.’ Creepy guys like that are on every flight. If you are traveling with kids, you have to be aware all the time. Parents need to be in every row with a kid and monitor adjacent passenger activities.”
Hidden Treasures
“I worked as a ramp agent for a major airline in a mid-sized airport. Our jobs entailed bringing the aircraft in, offloading and loading the bags, and when the aircrafts were parked overnight, we were required to clean the entire plane. During my time with the airline, we found used protection in the airplane seat backs, toe/fingernail clippings, food, jewelry, money, electronics, cameras, and iPods/iPads.
One night, we were cleaning this Embraer 145 and my friend went to clean the lavatory. As soon as she opened the door, we heard a loud scream. She then ran up the aisle and out of the airplane. Curious, we walked back to the lavatory and were shocked at what we saw. Someone had taken a baby diaper filled with poop and smeared it over the lavatory mirror. The diaper was still attached to the mirror. Who does something like that?!”
Creep Alert
“It was a regular day as far as the cabin crew life was concerned. I was operating a flight from my base in Mumbai, India to Coimbatore, India. I was working in the back section of the aircraft and all the passengers were boarded. We all were set for the journey and the aircraft started to taxi towards the runway. The safety demonstration was going on when suddenly I heard an old lady, who apparently came in a wheelchair, shouting.
I was the nearest crew who could go to help so I went to inquire. I could see she was in a state of shock. The passenger who was seated beside her told me it was his mother and she was a little scared as it was her first flight. I left the scene but I had my doubts so I again went to the lady. To my horror, I saw the same fellow passenger touching the lady inappropriately.
I confronted the passenger and asked for the boarding pass as my reference was showing that a family member was sitting with the lady. When I took the boarding pass, I saw he was a different passenger. He was not a family member. I immediately called the captain and told him about the incident. The captain was proactive and made an announcement that we were going back to the parking bay.
The aircraft doors were opened and the passenger was handed over to the CISF (security force). I was called for an inquiry by the police and gave my statement too. I don’t know what happened with the guy but I did what I could do best. I too was in a state of shock. I still can’t believe a 40-something-year-old guy behaved like that with an old lady who was in her late 60s.”
Witness Of A Crime
“As disgusting as it sounds, the worst, nastiest thing I witnessed on a flight was a man stealing from an older woman after she fell asleep on a relatively short flight. I reported it to the senior flight attendant but the flight was so short that there wasn’t enough time to ‘investigate.’ The idiot was able to get off without the police being able to handle it. He did however know I had witnessed the theft.
You know the expression ‘If looks could kill?’ He slithered off the plane like the snake he was and I could never forget his ugly, nasty face! As I had done in the past, I warned him to never darken any door I was in charge of again. I gave the woman my personal information and informed the airline of the incident and the name of the creep.
I witnessed a lot of crazy incidents back in those days which is why I don’t fly all that much anymore. It’s sad human behavior can be abhorrent but I make a Herculean effort to believe the best in humankind. It’s never been easy but without hope and faith, what else have I got? Karma can and will catch up with anyone at any time!”
To Aspen
“I didn’t have anybody get shady per se but there was a man that got extremely rude. He’s a famous actor which shall remain nameless. It was about 1992 and he was on a flight going to Aspen. He decided to light up to smoke while we were still parked in Denver just to show off for his young girlfriend. He was highly inebriated and acting incredibly rude and pompous. He absolutely would not put the smoke out. This went on for about a minute and I was thinking of a clever way to get him to put it out.
So I said, ‘We are unable to take off to go to Aspen ladies and gentlemen unless Mr. So-And-So puts out his smoke.’
It worked like a charm as all the other passengers were booing and saying, ‘Hey, come on now, put that out so we can leave!’
Feeling the pressure, Mister So-and-So put out the smoke and we were able to take off to Aspen Colorado. I have so many stories but that’s one of them that sticks out the most.”
Not So Clever
“Back in the day, Northeast Airlines used to have synthetic ‘furry throws’ for the passengers’ use in flight. There wasn’t one for everyone, but there were quite a few per flight. People loved them so much that we couldn’t keep them. Passengers were stealing them left and right. One day, I saw a lady deplaning with one over her arm ‘hidden’ beneath her mink wrap. Keeping my eyes peeled for our throws, I stopped her saying,
‘Oh my! Look at that! Looks like you got one of our furry throws caught beneath your wrap. Here, I’ll just get that for you.’
I said it in a syrupy sweet voice while flashing her a huge grin. I hate thieves. Back then, mixed drinks were only one dollar each. A few times, in an effort to get free drinks, someone would produce a 100-dollar bill saying that’s all they had. I learned to quickly snatch it up saying,
‘No problem! I’ll just hold onto it until we’re at the gate where someone will be waiting with your change.’
One guy was particularly obnoxious, thinking he was clever and had outsmarted us. Not only did I pull my usual trick, but when I told the flight crew to call ahead to bring change to the flight, I requested they bring it in coins. The crew was only too happy to comply with my request, and so was the guy on the other end. We’d all seen this many times. The sack of loose change was pretty heavy, and the man denied the station manager’s offer to count it out.
People are so stupid. They think they’re the only ones who have ever tried to scam us. We were locked up with a couple of hundred people every working day, so there wasn’t much we hadn’t seen before.”
One Too Many
“The people who traveled with Northwest Airlines would request a lot of peanuts and drinks. Up 30,000 feet in the air, they could drink all they wanted. When we would come down to the ground, however, they would start getting more inebriated and get sick. I had been warned about people being so modest they wouldn’t ask for anything to vomit in, thinking they can stop themselves.
I could tell when someone was about to get sick and would run to them with a vomit bag. Most back seats have one but they wouldn’t have time to dig in the seats for it. On one flight as we were about to land on the runway in Memphis, TN, I heard someone projectile vomiting. He was so embarrassed that when he left, he gave me a 100 bill as a tip for not controlling his drinking more than he did.
Another time I had a guy psych out and grab the door latch trying to open the door. People didn’t realize that when the plane was airborne, you could pull on the latch all they wanted and it wouldn’t open the door. Several people came up immediately to my defense and I told them we needed to sit him down without hurting him.
I know how mob mentality is and how it can hurt a person, so I wanted to be careful. I asked a bigger guy to step up, reach under his waist, and if he refused to let go, pick his feet off the ground to cause him to release the latch to balance himself. The door latch disengages from the latch and will not open on any plane no matter how strong you are, but it’s still enough to create anxiety on a plane.”
