Weird Airline Stories

Pilot Fired for Giving Controls of 737 to a 15-Year-Old

Sep 24th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

A pilot for Turkey’s Anadolujet was fired after he allowed a 15-year-old to sit in his seat while the plane was flying from Ankara to Erzurum (and while the pilot went to the bathroom).  The co-pilot had control of the aircraft, but the teenager did have access to the controls.  In 1994 an Aeroflot plane [...]

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Woman Lands in Wrong Sydney Airport

Sep 23rd, 2008 | By Jared Blank

(Thanks, One Mile at a Time):
A sculptor from Buenos Aires heading to Sydney, Australia, for a vacation last week was surprised when she landed in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  She said she knew something was amiss when she got to Halifax and had to board a Dash-8 prop plane, which probably would not have made it [...]

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Mushroom Soup Causes Ryanair Diversion

Sep 2nd, 2008 | By Jared Blank

(Thanks, Upgrade Travel Better):
A Ryanair flight from Budapest to Dublin was diverted to Frankfurt (well, Frankfurt-Hahn) after a man who is allergic to mushrooms discovered that his overhead bin was leaking mushroom soup onto his head.  I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it’s what happened.  He had an allergic reaction, had trouble breathing, [...]

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Bill Clinton’s 55 Hour Flight Delay

Aug 8th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

Well, that was just to get your attention - it was actually his press plane trailing his plane to Africa that was delayed.  The Washington Post has a mildly amusing story about the press traveling with Clinton for a 4-day whirlwind trip through Africa and the delays suffered by all.  Short version?  55 hour delay [...]

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Indian Court: Air India Can Fire Fat Flight Attendants

Jun 9th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

A court in India has ruled that Air India has the right to fire flight attendants it considers to be overweight.  The court agreed with the airline that overweight staff members posed a safety risk.  To show how progressive they were, the court also added that a woman’s physical appearance plays an important part in [...]

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If You Found Marijuana in Your Suitcase at Narita, Let Customs Know

May 27th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

A customs officer at Tokyo’s Narita airport trying to test whether drug-sniffing dogs could find marijuana in a suitcase, forgot which piece of luggage he placed the drugs in and now someone is walking around Tokyo with about 1/3 of a pound of pot in the luggage.  Customs officials say that it is against regulations [...]

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Drunk and Naked Pilot Arrested…And So Is Drunk, Not Naked Flight Attendant

May 21st, 2008 | By Jared Blank

I’m not even sure this story makes any sense, but here goes:  A pilot and flight attendant for Pinnacle Airlines (Northwest) were in Harrisburg, PA, the night before working a flight.  They went to a bar, got drunk, headed back to the hotel, decided to hook up in the woods, somehow got separated, and the [...]

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How to Fight High Fuel Costs: Steal It From an Airplane

May 19th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

An airport worker in Portland, Maine, came up with a novel way to fight the high cost of heating his home:  he stole fuel from a JetBlue A320 parked at the airport to use for home heating.  An airport employee was seen filling up a 5-gallon jug with jet fuel from a JetBlue plane before [...]

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Man Sues JetBlue Because He Had to Sit in Bathroom (He Says)

May 13th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

Something about this is extremely fishy:
A man is suing JetBlue because, he says, he was forced to spend most of a flight from San Diego to JFK sitting on a toilet.  The passenger wanted to get on the flight but was told that there were no seats available.  He says a flight attendant offered to [...]

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Passengers Stranded in Barbados for 2 Months

May 9th, 2008 | By Jared Blank

This should be a movie:
On February 1st a group of tourists from Ghana arrived in Barbados for a two week holiday. Their flight on Ghana International Airlines was to depart on February 15th. It did not show up. The 61 Ghanaians waiting for the flight were unable to simply take the next [...]

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