worst airplane experience...

[content]

really scary stuff. not sitting next to crying children. Preferably when you were in one but if you got hit by one while in your car that would be good too.

[ckpqerjwrpwp]

flying from LA to london.. about an hour into the flight the pilot came on to say 'one of our engines has stopped working, but it's all fine and this plane can perform perfectly on three engines'.. and then about 30 mins later he comes on again and says 'although it's not so good on just the 2 engines.. we're going back to LA'.

[kams]

flying back from Majorca last time I went on holiday with my folks when I was 14/15.. flew through a massive thunderstorm over southern france. It was like dodgems at some points - really jolting from side to side - then everynow and again youd get a big drop - where you'd sink down about 20ft..

shatting of the pants.

[c s]

a cabin smelling of kerosine exhaust all the flight long + absolutely no place to move with a 150kg guy next to you in that small plane and additionally, the crew had 'forgotten' to take water aboard... never fly "dba"! :-\

[Jeniffer Mills]

Flying through a thunderstorm at night to Dakar, after refuelling in Las Palmas.

The plane hit bad weather during the approach to the Canaries, and took of in the same. After take off it got calm for about 15 mins. After that it got quite bumpy again, and strobe flashes through the window.Even the flight attendants had a cramped expression on their faces ....

Best part of it was: The flight had been delayed for about 3 hours from take off from Düsseldorf, due to a leakage in the fuel tank (that the pilot explained to us)

[Martin23]

Flying to Lyon and the plane just dropped out of the air for what seemed an age, so much so the oxygen masks dropped down. Proper panic and I thought that was it until I heard both engine burst back into action.

[spoon]

any ryanair flight ever.

"LOOK, NO HANDS! LOL!!!"

[ckpqerjwrpwp]

I've only been on one ryanair flight that wasn't 3 hours late.

[spoon]

Originally Posted by Numbnuts

I've only been on one ryanair flight that wasn't 3 hours late.

i think i read about that one.

[thomas hooked]

flying air cuba and smoking the whole journey to try and keep the flies off my friends bag.

[May Kasahara]

Getting caught in a massive electrical storm while flying from JFK to Denver, so bad that after circling for ages we were rerouted to Colorado Springs...of course, by the time we landed there the storm had moved across from Denver to CS, so we were stuck there for another age while they sorted the plane out and waited for the weather to pass again...eventually landed at Denver about 6 hours later than planned, quivering from having been tossed about in the sky.

Cool lightning though.

[AVX23]

Thankfully none in mid air - couple of bumpy rides, but nuthin really bad - the worst in air experience was me flying, no shit - flew right over the forth road bridge, thought I'd have a closer look, q the pilot giving it, I think I'll take over now

It was in a chipmunk space cadet vehicle - rickety wee fukkers them likes.

Worst commercial air experience was when the plane we were due to be flying back from birmingham once broke down mid take off, that was fucked - they were like - we will fix the aircraft and you can fly home - we were like - no fukkin danger are we getting on that heap of shit again- we coulda died !! Thankfully it broke down as it was beginning the take off, made a right fukkin racket, was BA as well, I was really dissapointed, they've gone right downhill, the aircraft was a disgrace.

I always loved flyin' - never been scared of it neither - I'd love to plummet to my doom from x thousand feet - would be some way to go.

Not to say air disasters ain't bad, just personally - I wouldn't mind going out like that - would be a good death I think.

[wheezer]

Finnair 4 LIFE

Anywho, I think the departure / arrival airports are pretty relevant to the experience as well. As such, Paris and London-based erutufoneers should really have the best stories

[M H]

Originally Posted by wheezer

Finnair 4 LIFE

Anywho, I think the departure / arrival airports are pretty relevant to the experience as well. As such, Paris and London-based erutufoneers should really have the best stories

Most frightning:
Frankfurt>Dresden during a winter storm, spent the whole flight pretty much with my headphones on messing about in Logic on my laptop, just to try and ignore how bumpy the flight was, even so, my lappy was bouncing up and down on the tray table in front of me.. the approach was quite a white knuckle ride, although it was dark, we could see that we were getting pretty close to the ground, when all of a sudden, when we were probably only 30 or 40 m off the ground we suffered severe windshear, causing the plane to drop like 20 m or so.. everyone on the plane did that sharp intake of breath thing that you do when you are freaked out, and we were just waiting for the bang..
luckily we recovered the small bit of altitude we had and did a pretty hard landing.. I mean I fly all the time, and that one was hard... and a kind of left landing gear/ right landing gear dance down the runway.. cue round of applause, although I always wonder why people clap before you're off the runway, I' mean, it's not over till you're at the gate, you can still overshoot the runway & die in a ball of fire!!

which also brings me to another one of my pet hates, people turning their phones on the moment we've landed.. like you just couldn't wait, could you, despite the fact you were told 20 times not to turn your phone on until you are in the terminal building... along with my other pet hate, people who block the ailse without paying anyone else a blind bit of consideration either whilst boarding or leaving the plane

I had a freaky experience on an easyjet flight a few months back on an old B737-300, all the facia on the inside of where the windows are was falling away revealing the clips that hold the windows in, then started to look around the whole plane and notice what a piece of shit it actually was... got us there in one piece thankfully...

Then there was the Lufthansa A300 widebody they used to use on the Frankfurt>London leg, flew on the same aircraft about 4 times over 2 months and saw the state of the aircraft get progressivly worse, the first time 2 sets of florescent tube lighting dropped down from their positions by the overhead lockers to reveal loads of wireing, cabin crew comes up, and shoves it back into place like she has to do it every time, sure enough, it dropped down on landing.. I got on the same aircraft another time to be told to "wear your seatbelt the whole time as the seatbelt sign isn't working"... really inspires confidence!!

as far as arrival/dep is concerned, the worst airport in the world must be Heathrow (term 1+2 esp.), although luton comes a close second for me.. I decided a while back, that airports were designed in such a way to make sure people got bored, and the only way to amuse yourself would be to spend money.. I meaan why don't airports have cinemas? or a tv room of some sort? somewhere to kill the time until your flight? not a chance, spend all your dosh in duty free...

singapore is the best though with it's airside hotel, swimming pool and roof garden... nice

[cut out]

flying to Russia on Aeroflot.

Take off felt like the plane was going to fall to bits. Got in the air and it started raining *inside* the plane. The whole journey was so hair raising I think i've erased most of the memories for safety's sake.

[AVX23]

Originally Posted by cut out

flying to Russia on Aeroflot.

Take off felt like the plane was going to fall to bits. Got in the air and it started raining *inside* the plane. The whole journey was so hair raising I think i've erased most of the memories for safety's sake.

god yeah - Russian Air does get bad press, I'm surprised anyone flies there.

I'd be going by cart and horse, probably about the same tech level.

Did you see the program they made about it, fucking madness, half the pilots were trashed and that was only the tip of the iceberg.

@ MH totally hearin' the phone thing BTW - irritates the fuck outta me too, it's like - ur on an airopleane - big thing that floats in the sky, this is quite a big thing actually, so gonna lissen up and stop treating it like an inconvinience.

[Ladytron]

Originally Posted by cut out

flying to Russia on Aeroflot.

Take off felt like the plane was going to fall to bits. Got in the air and it started raining *inside* the plane. The whole journey was so hair raising I think i've erased most of the memories for safety's sake.

was it Tupolev154? raining inside (condensation) is normal thing there. russian planes are very safe what i can't say for some of the russian crew. they can be very scary.

[Jeniffer Mills]

Originally Posted by wheezer

Anywho, I think the departure / arrival airports are pretty relevant to the experience as well. As such, Paris and London-based erutufoneers should really have the best stories

..Flying into Frankfurt in the morning to noon , you can have holding patterns up to 30 mins and more....If the weather is bad, it can be quite sickening, while circeling in low altitude.....And of course fret to miss your attachment flight....

[Jeniffer Mills]

Originally Posted by Ladytron

was it Tupolev154? raining inside (condensation) is normal thing there. russian planes are very safe.

I agree on that...Russian Tupoleves are more steady than any airbus...It`s only the way the airlines don`t check them as much as "western planes" due to the lack of money.....

[M H]

Originally Posted by Darren W

.And of course fret to miss your attachment flight....

connecting you mean? don't even go here, I know this after the farce of flying Berlin>Frankfurt>Birmingham>malta having missed the straight connection to malta from frankfurt and due to an ATC strike in France Birmingham being the next best connection....

[mattp]

Originally Posted by content

really scary stuff. not sitting next to crying children. Preferably when you were in one but if you got hit by one while in your car that would be good too.

I flew this year to Alicante for the first time with our 2 year old son. The first hour was fine ... then he got bored. I never felt so much hate from the other passengers. I thought we were going to get lynched.. very scary.

[Davenport]

The worst time ever for me was when i was flying on my own to Barcelona. The plane split in half and i flew out still with my seat belt on. I was shooting through the snowy air when i saw K-2 the mountain in front of me... The tip of it was sticking through the clouds. I was really cold now but ate the free packet of nuts the hostess handed me. I was going so fast i was certain of my death when all of a sudden a warm thermal came under my seat and made me land on the tip of K-2 really slowly and gently. As i landed i looked behind me and saw the Easyjet plane crash into the snow. It was really cold on the top of the mountain... i didn't know what to do.. then all of a sudden i woke up! phew it was just a dream.

[wheezer]

Originally Posted by Darren W

..Flying into Frankfurt in the morning to noon , you can have holding patterns up to 30 mins and more....If the weather is bad, it can be quite sickening, while circeling in low altitude.....And of course fret to miss your attachment flight....

Yeah I've done that shuffle - did you know FFM was originally conceived for Zeppelins? At least they have an excuse

Seriously though, 30 min is pretty regular - you can spend 60 min just sitting inside a KLM machine at Shiphol waiting for them 'to find the spare part for the cockpit' if you're lucky...

[M H]

Originally Posted by wheezer

Yeah I've done that shuffle - did you know FFM was originally conceived for Zeppelins? At least they have an excuse

Seriously though, 30 min is pretty regular - you can spend 60 min just sitting inside a KLM machine at Shiphol waiting for them 'to find the spare part for the cockpit' if you're lucky...

on the berlin>frankfurt leg of the aforementioned
malta trip we didn't even take off from Berlin for 1 hr due to traffic at frankfurt.. doomed from the start..

[Jeniffer Mills]

Originally Posted by M H

on the berlin>frankfurt leg of the aforementioned
malta trip we didn't even take off from Berlin for 1 hr due to traffic at frankfurt.. doomed from the start..

...a fourth runway is overdue , and planned... But no one wants to build it...

[M H]

Originally Posted by Darren W

...a fourth runway is overdue , and planned... But no one wants to build it...

Maybe if DB made their prices a bit more reasonable more people would travel by train... I mean Berlin to frankfurt is over 120 euros by ICE, lufthansa undercut that easily....

I also forgot about the time when I was flying back from Barcelona once, and they noticed an engine fault whilst taxiing, and we were left waiting on the plane in the midday sun for an hour with the air con turned off.. horrific...

[Jeniffer Mills]

Originally Posted by M H

I also forgot about the time when I was flying back from Barcelona once, and they noticed an engine fault whilst taxiing, and we were left waiting on the plane in the midday sun for an hour with the air con turned off.. horrific...

This reminds me what happened to me departing Antalya/Turkey...As the plane was still parking on the apron, some idjut plugged out the generator, all electricity went off for about 15 mins on the A 310....No fun at 40°C ....

[wheezer]

[quote=M H]Most frightning:
which also brings me to another one of my pet hates, people turning their phones on the moment we've landed.. like you just couldn't wait, could you, despite the fact you were told 20 times not to turn your phone on until you are in the terminal building... |/quote]

I never turn my phone or electronic devices I intend to use off. We might as well be riding fruit bats to work. if the only thing that kept planes up in the air was people remembering to turn their shit off, airlines would be screwed.

along with my other pet hate, people who block the ailse without paying anyone else a blind bit of consideration either whilst boarding or leaving the plane

this I hate as well... with a passion

Then there was the Lufthansa A300 widebody they used to use on the Frankfurt>London leg, flew on the same aircraft about 4 times over 2 months and saw the state of the aircraft get progressivly worse, the first time 2 sets of florescent tube lighting dropped down from their positions by the overhead lockers to reveal loads of wireing, cabin crew comes up, and shoves it back into place like she has to do it every time, sure enough, it dropped down on landing.. I got on the same aircraft another time to be told to "wear your seatbelt the whole time as the seatbelt sign isn't working"... really inspires confidence!!

I once flew with an airline from paris to prague, the plane was so beat-up 2nd hand crap that the airline hadn't even bothered to stick their own logo on the outside.

as far as arrival/dep is concerned, the worst airport in the world must be Heathrow (term 1+2 esp.), although luton comes a close second for me.. I decided a while back, that airports were designed in such a way to make sure people got bored

stansted surely is ten times worse than heathrow???

and the only way to amuse yourself would be to spend money.. I meaan why don't airports have cinemas? or a tv room of some sort? somewhere to kill the time until your flight? not a chance, spend all your dosh in duty free...

heathrow terminal 4 has a crappy cinema, but it is free... and let's not forget the multi-religion prayer rooms! good lounges at heathrow though.

singapore is the best though with it's airside hotel, swimming pool and roof garden... nice

haven't been to singapore, but copenhagen is prolly one of my favorite european airports...

[M H]

Originally Posted by wheezer

I never turn my phone or electronic devices I intend to use off. We might as well be riding fruit bats to work. if the only thing that kept planes up in the air was people remembering to turn their shit off, airlines would be screwed.

Yes, but surely that's no excuse to blatently refuse to follow a carriers instructions. They don't tell you to turn your stuff off just to be awkward, only for the benefit of everybody's safety. You are told not to switch on your phone until you are "WELL INSIDE THE TERMINAL BUILDING".. this is my pet hate about it, the fact that people think to themselves "oh, I know better than that, it doesn't apply to me", when there is a certain risk to safety, ok, it's not going to make a plane fall out of the sky, but has yet to be proved that is doesn't affect crucial systems such as Autoland, and navigational systems.. it also plays havok with the mobile phone network down below, aas the cellular stations arn't used to a phone trying to log on to 5 cells at once from above..

[Jeniffer Mills]

...Why do people rush and qeue to the lavatories after the "fasten seatbelt " sign goes out after take off? A phenomina i see on EVERY flight...