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Flight Attendants Describe The Scariest Flight They've Ever Been On

Flight Attendants Describe The Scariest Flight They've Ever Been On
Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

It takes a lot to become a flight attendant. Not only do you have to maintain a calm demeanor while dealing with some of the antsiest and worst passengers in all of the service industry but, oh yeah, you need to do it 30,000 feet off the ground. Fortunately, almost all flights ever are standard take off and touch down. Nothing exciting ever happens, except for a crying baby.

And then, there are these flights.


Reddit user, u/mrSFWdotcom, wanted to know about:

Flight attendants of Reddit: what's the most legitimately scared you've ever been on a flight?

Wait For It...

Flight attendant here. I haven't really had many things happening that were scary, usually the stories are more gross or fun/sad. Turbulence doesn't really do anything for me but medical situations freak me out.

We are trained for identifying what the situation is and how to help or make them confortable in more severe ones. I still remember in my first year, having just taken off for the first of four flights on that day, a passenger pressed the call Bell because another passenger wasn't well. I was the first to arrive to help and I will spare the details but it looked serious. We suspected that he was having a stroke so we had to land as fast as possible.

There was so much going on in the 15 minutes it took us to land and then waiting for paramedics to take him to the hospital. I was scared for him. He got off and we carried on but I kept going back to think what I could have done better and kept dreaming that he passed away ( if the passenger doesn't contact the company after, we don't find out what has happened). So yeah not very scary but it [stuck] with me.

Bonus gross story (as I have plenty of these) : Elderly passenger once left me a bag of pee under the seat. Still warm.

WeirdOreo

What A First Flight

I was on a plane about 8 years ago. It was one of my first flights, hadn't experienced any real turbulence. That plane was bouncing all over the place. There luggage started falling from the overhead space. It was wild. Flight attendants were strapped in, I couldn't see them though. By the time they came around with the snacks they had called down, but some of the passengers were permashook, didn't call down until we landed

mrdewtles

Not Scared. SCARRED.

A couple went into the bathroom on my flight to Hong Kong from Australia. After a few minutes she started screaming, thought she was getting murdered, they accidentally unlocked the door, I don't know how and they were there committing some very hardcore sinful acts.

I was traumatised, not so much scared but scarred

mashedpotatoflesh

Did Anyone Else Feel That?

I have had 4 emergencies total on an aircraft. We go through rigorous training and it is ongoing for our entire careers to prepare us physically and mentally for almost any problem on board. The most scared I have even been is when a major part of the plane broke inflight during landing. I felt it happen and the passengers never noticed. I sat in my jumpseat, prepared myself for the worse and kept smiling.

We landed just fine, Captain called and said remain seated. Went to the gate, said goodbye to all the passengers and after they had left, the Captain smiled and looked at me and said, do you know we almost died. I said, yeah...I felt it right before landing.

The FO (First Officer) looked like he sh-t himself. We were stuck on the ground for 5 hours waiting for maintenance to come with a part from another state entirely. I was scared for a moment, but got over it quickly. Flew out the same day and did 2 more flights that were delayed. The passengers were angry and mean and I just apologized and smiled. They had no idea we almost became a statistic. The other 3 were medical emergencies and I just handled it like I'm trained to.

hatever

Never Scream On An Airplane

My sister was in a flight once where a person near started having a panic attack/manic episode, and started punching the window and the people sitting near them, screaming, "let me out!" And scrambled into the isle trying to make a beeline for the exit door.

They had to make an emergency landing, and the entire crew was subduing this person. A jerk in the row in front of her keep pushing the call bell and getting mad he wasn't getting served. She said the flight crew just got a serious look on their face and handled it

Froggetpwagain

Lasting Impact

Not me, but my brother. Can't remember all the details, but they were flying home from a destination wedding. He flew a lot, and was not a nervous flier. Something happened, masks came down, and they were all told to brace for a possible crash landing. Luckily, the plane didn't crash. However, my brother now needs to take Xanax to fly.

woodslw

Up, Then Down, Then Up, Then Down

Flying out of Denver can be real choppy for the first few minutes of gaining altitude.

One time I was on a smaller turboprop type plane. We had waited 30 minutes for a storm to clear. The takeoff was smooth enough but in less than a minute we hit turbulence.

I've flown on huge jets with center aisles, and small prop planes that fit 5-6 people including pilot. I'm used to the sudden drops of altitude and feeling the stomach flip, and I know those drops can be 100 to 1000s of feet in a second. I've also felt turbulence that knocked luggage loose and made people start praying. I know that planes are made to withstand all of this, and want to remain in the air.

But holy sh-t I thought we were going to hit the ground. It seemed like every time we'd get lift, we'd lose twice as much. I could still see ground very clearly, and the angle we were stuck at and starting thinking we'd stall before anything else. I don't know what the pilots did, but for the next minute you could hear the engines roaring off and on, and we slowly got altitude and seemed to level out.

Things calmed down but when I looked outside we were still relatively low. Flight attendants went down the rows checking everyone and then offered drinks and snacks. I ordered a double whiskey neat and found out they were comping alcohol.

I've since learned that after any turbulence or other issue, if they happen to buy your drink after, some serious sh-t almost or did likely happen.

I also try not to fly much.

maxcrabb

You'll Always Wonder, Yet Never Know

I worked as an airhost for two years.

On a flight to copenhagen we had a medical emergency. A passenger fainted with what his friend said was stomach pain. We gave the person oxygen and asked his friend to hold his head back. We where just about to land and to not hurt the man further the pilots landed swiftly. AS soon as the plane touched down we jumped up from the jumpseats to assist the man. He was now awake, but very pale and very weak. We gathered his information so it could be relayed to the tower and get help at the gate.

The passengers where rushed off, to make room for the EMT's. The man was helped and treated before being transported off the plane. The EMT came back to tell us that he was OK.

We had a normal turn-around after that. We loaded up again and went home. The flight took no longer than 50 min. When we landed, we learned that he did not make it. He was better after exiting the plane. He was given the clear and a pass to the lounge awating the next flight to catch up with his friends, but sadly turned for the worse and passed away.

That really hit home. I was affraid I missed something, or that I should have known better. We had all passed him several times. Even his friends sitting next to him did not know, that every time we thought he was slepping, he had most likely passed out. I kept this in mind every flight since. Kept asking people who traveled together if the other one was sleeping and such.

I never found out what caused his death. Since he was taken off the plane he no longer was our responsibillity. The airport did not give us any more information.

I still think about this man, what happend and what could have been done, 5 years later.

Dry_Squirrel

Poor Timing

My dad flies from AZ to HI a couple times a month (pre covid). I know turbulence can sometimes be bad but the craziest story he told me was when a elderly man died shortly after take off so a flight attendant covered him with a blanket for the remainder of the 6+ hour flight. Something you probably don't think about when applying to the job.

zac967

Good. Lord.

Finally a question I can answer! My only real scare as a flight attendant was a bomb threat we received right after take off, apparently someone had called the authority and reported a bomb in the aircraft. Captain informed us of the situation and told us we were going back to base, we just told the passengers we had a technical issue not to scare them but it was the 15 longest minutes of my life. In the end we learned it was just a guy who didn't want his parents to visit him and discover he was growing weed in his apartment...

Ellana534

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.