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What's your absolute worst flight experience ever?
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I've been flying for over 20 years and have seen some pretty bad situations. My personal worst flight experience was on a red eye flight from LA to New York where we had severe turbulence for what felt like hours. The flight attendant actually fell and got injured, people were screaming, and they had to make an emergency landing in Chicago.
But I know there are worse stories out there. Anyone have any truly unforgettable flights that still give you nightmares? I'm talking about flight horror stories that make you question ever flying again.
Oh man, I have a flight horror story that still gives me chills. We were flying back from vacation with our then 1 year old. About 2 hours into the flight, we hit the worst turbulence I've ever experienced. It was one of those weather related flight stories they talk about on the news.
The pilot announcements were trying to stay calm but you could hear the tension. People were throwing up, stuff was flying everywhere. My wife was holding our baby so tight I thought she might crush him. They ended up diverting and making an emergency landing at a small airport.
We were stuck there for 8 hours with no luggage, just what we had in our diaper bag. Definitely one of those unforgettable flights for all the wrong reasons.
My worst flight experience was on a budget airline during holiday travel. The flight was overbooked by like 50 people. They kept calling names and offering vouchers, but eventually they just started telling people they couldn't board.
The airline customer service was absolutely terrible. People were screaming, crying, it was chaos. I got on but my friend didn't. Then we sat on the tarmac for 3 hours because of a mechanical issue. No food, no water, just sitting there.
When we finally took off, the turbulence was so bad the flight attendants had to stay seated the whole time. No drinks, no snacks, nothing. Just 5 hours of pure misery. Definitely my worst flight experiences combined into one nightmare trip.
I've been fortunate to avoid most flight horror stories, but I did have one truly awful experience in what was supposed to be a luxury flight experience.
Booked first class on a reputable airline for a special anniversary trip. The seat was broken wouldn't recline at all. The entertainment system kept crashing. Then the air conditioning failed about an hour into the flight.
But the worst part was the flight attendant stories from that trip. The crew seemed completely untrained and disinterested. When I politely mentioned the issues, I got attitude back. For a $5,000 ticket, I expected better airline customer service experiences.
We ended up getting a partial refund after complaining, but it ruined what was supposed to be a romantic flight experience. Sometimes paying more doesn't guarantee a better experience.
I've had some rough ones on adventure travel flights. The worst was a small plane in Alaska. We hit unexpected weather and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on a gravel strip in the middle of nowhere.
The landing was so hard I thought the plane was going to break apart. We sat there for 12 hours waiting for another plane to come get us. No facilities, just a shack with a radio.
But honestly, even that wasn't as bad as a domestic flight I took once where there was a medical emergency and we had to divert. Watching the flight attendants and a doctor passenger try to save someone's life while we circled waiting for clearance to land... that was traumatic. Some air travel memories you just can't forget.
Reading all these stories is NOT helping my fear of flying! I'm taking my first flight next month and now I'm even more terrified.
Are these worst flight experiences common or are they really rare? I'm starting to think maybe I should just take a train instead...
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