What's the sketchiest flight you've been?

7,861 Views | 73 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Superfreak
moses1084ever
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By sketchy, I mean perception that the plane was sh***y and going to crash.

CanyonAg77
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Never thought I was going to crash, but...

Piloting a Cessna 150 alone, with low fuel, and the engine sputtered.

Southwest 737 in the late 1970s, one engine either failed or was shut down quickly. Went from takeoff power climbing out of Love Field to plane bouncing around and it getting really quiet onboard. Landed without incident.

Right seat of a Piper 160 over snow capped mountains around Pagosa Springs CO. Watching little rivulets of oil streaming across windshield.
Fairview
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About 10 years ago on a United flight from IAH to one of the New York airports (I forgot which). Plane got bumpy, the pilot came on, said we lost an engine and was having some other mechanical issues. He said we were going to emergency land in Atlanta and we had a priority approach.

He slowed the plane down so much it shuttered and took us down. About a minute before we landed he came on and said don't freak out but it's serious so they will have emergency crews on the runway and that we had to brace.

I think he waited until right before so people didn't have time to flip out. It ended up being fine.

The part that sucked is we had to wait 8 hours for a new plane. Meanwhile there were about 10 flights to NYC with open seats but we couldn't get on them because in their system we were technically still on a flight. Finally got the plane and it was a slightly different version so the crew just said sit where you want. That combined with the emergency landing, 8 hours of sitting and about 10 fights almost broke out.
Spore Ag
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Landed in Burma during a severe monsoon storm. Heavy, heavy landing with the plane jerking and skidding sideways down the runway. Fortunately it was one of those high winged planes because the wing looked close to hitting the ground. Only time I heard all passengers scream.

Early flights throughout Indonesia always fun particularly where you can watch the pilots with charts spread, pointing then dipping down looking for landmarks.

Story of the pilot leaving cockpit to go back and smoke with a friend. Copilot gets lonely puts the plane on autopilot, leaves the cockpit and locks them out. Passengers have to break door down.
aggiedata
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Iah to Seattle: Mechanical issues with the flaps. They were making a terrible noise every time they tried to put them down.

They couldn't get them down so we had to land much faster than normal. We flew around to burn extra fuel, then came in hot, told to brace. Lots of cheering when we finally came to stop as I watched the fire trucks along side the runway looking at our smoking brakes. Good times!
wangus12
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Dublin to Toronto. I was seated right next to the emergency door on the back half of the plane, right next to the galley in the middle. One of the bolts on the inside of the emergency door was really loose and we hit some bad turbulence just south of Iceland. The plane was really shaking and that bolt was making a god awful racket. Even the flight crew came back to look at it. I thought for sure in what may have been an extremely hungover haze that the bolt was gonna go and I'd get a sweet view of the Icelandic coast as I fell.
aeroag14
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Flying into Grand Cayman a few times.

Not really sketchy. But, Cayman has a REALLY short runway. So every time we land (usually in a 737 which has a relatively high approach/landing speed) you end up in the seat in front of you as they land with full reverse thrusters and slamming the brakes. A couple times I specifically remember jerking to a complete stop on the runway, when the plane turned to taxi to the runway, you could see we were no further than 100 yards from the end of the runway (which is the water).
histag10
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Great Mistakes Airlines (Great Lakes). Denver to Dickinson ND

at first, we were told we may not be able to board, because they were sure the plane could get off the ground with 18 people on board and we were numbers 19 and 20 to check in. They eventually let us on. Then they reseated us all for weight distribution. We ended up in an emergency exit aisle. Which was fine, until I looked at the emergency door and realized that it had likely been used before, as the handle was on backwards, and the protective glass was backwards as well (writing on it was backwards as if the glass had been flipped). Fine, maybe it was just a mistake. Then I realized that my armrest still had an ash tray, with ash residue in it. At this point, I'm still sure the flight will be fine. And then I look out onto the wing (because the emergency door is over the wing), and I notice a piece of duct tape. I figure, surely someone just put that there to freak people out, then I realized several bolts were missing on the wing. This is when I started to freak out just a bit, especially because we would be in bad weather.

So, naturally, I asked the flight attendant what the beverage options were (hoping to make myself and irish coffee). I was told coffee or water. So I asked for a coffee and baileys. She brought it back just coffee, and said they didnt serve alcohol. OK. So i asked if they had anything to put in the coffee (looking for cream and sugar). She said she may have a peppermint in her purse if I would like that.

It was at this point, I realized this plane could very well go down. It was not a pleasant feeling. Especially when we landed one of the worst landings I have ever encountered. I was pretty sure they forgot where the ground was and just kind of lucked out when they hit, and then made the hard turn which felt like we were only on one back wheel.

NEVER AGAIN!
aeroag14
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Quote:

And then I look out onto the wing (because the emergency door is over the wing), and I notice a piece of duct tape. I figure, surely someone just put that there to freak people out, then I realized several bolts were missing on the wing


That is actually fairly common. They use "speed tape" which is slightly different than duct tape. But it is approved by the FAA for minor/temporary repairs.

I interned at boeing for a summer and worked on a trade study where if what we were trading had to be prepared the solution was Speed tape for the flight to a repair location
histag10
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That does NOT make me feel better. lol
ThunderCougarFalconBird
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Flight on Royal Air Maroc. Munich to Marrakesh (MUC-RAK).

Booked it because it was the only direct flight between the two cities and the next shortest option was Air France through Paris for an additional $500.

About a week before the flight, I get an email (in French and Arabic, of course) stating that our direct flight to RAK was being combined with the direct flight to Casablanca and would now have a (brief) stop. So instead of flying direct to Marrakesh, we got to stop in Casablanca to let people off. Instead of a flight that would arrive at 2 in the afternoon, our flight wouldn't get there until after 10:00 p.m.

The flight itself was a bit cramped but otherwise not that bad. 737 built in the late 1990s.

It got weird after we stopped in Casablanca. People unloaded. Next, the flight crew came through the cabin and made every person on the plane specifically identify every carry on bag. This was to ensure that no one left a bomb on the plane.

With that inspection complete, we taxied and took off. Its only a 20 minute hop from CMN to RAK. About 20 minutes in, a loud alarm in the galley goes off. Everyone on the plane is already puckered from the bomb inspection. Now it's just silent. After about 10 minutes (as we are on final approach) the alarm shuts off and we land.

Never fly on Royal Air Maroc unless you absolutely have to.
TommyGun
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I flew into the North Slope at Prudhoe Bay, AK in 2011 during a blizzard. It was 35 below with winds of 45+ mph and you could not see a thing outside the windows. The pilot made his approach via instruments and took several low approach passes over runway before we eventually landed. None of the passengers had any clue how close we were to the ground until the tires were just above the gravel runway. Total whiteout.

My only other sketchy flights were always taking off and landing at the Rock Springs, WY airport back when Skywest still flew Embraer 120s. The runway sits atop a butte that constantly has cross winds screaming over the top. It was always a wild ride coming in or out of that place with those old rattling machines. Sideways approaches and violent turbulence getting over the mountains were the norm.
BQ78
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Cozumel to Chichen Itza. Pilot had to rouse and chase off several stray dogs sleeping in the shade of the wings before we boarded. As we got close to the destination the pilot stood up the best he could from his seat and used binoculars to find the runway. Upon approach to Chichen Itza there were the remains of the same type plane from the same airline crashed short of the runway by about 30 feet.
Bitter Old Man
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Flying Pre-Merger United from Aspen to Denver on a BAE 146 high-wing jet. The takeoff out of there is about an 89 degree incline up the side of a mountain, for a good portion you can watch out the window and still see the pine needles on the trees. It was quite bumpy the whole way, but a short flight. We are on final approach in fog (landing any second but who knows when) and the guy across the aisle gets up and walks back to the bathroom. He's back there for an eternity it seems, while the flight attendant keeps saying over the mic to return to your seat. He finally wanders back and sits down. We hit the runway about 2 seconds after he buckles his belt. It made everybody a little nervous. I believe they kept him on the plane for a stern talking to, but I didn't see him again.
Ags03
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San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa in a six seater dual prop.

There are forest fires in the rain forest and we're dodging the mountains outside of Tegucigalpa. The pilot claimed to speak no English.

The guy next to mean leans over and ask "Why the *&^% is the pilot still wearing sunglasses! I can't see 15 feet past the wing."

I prayed the entire way.

Here is a video of the "bank" and decent you must hit coming into Tegucigalpa.

MAROON
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private flight from Houston to the 74 Ranch outside of Campbellton on a MU-2. So foggy we delayed take-off for two hours. Finally took off because the ranch said the fog was lifting. Got to the general area and it was still soupy. Pilot kept getting lower and circling trying to find the runway, but he was concerned because of electrical lines and towers in the area. I vividly remember him saying he was making one more pass and if he could not see the runway we were diverting to Beeville. Well he gets lower and I'm on the right side of the plane and out of my window I can see the runway. We are just about on top of it and we're running perpendicular to the runway. He sees it and I'm thinking, OK he will circle back around. NOPE! He does a hard right and basically puts us with one wing pointing skyward and the other (my side) pointing directly at the ground. He comes in hot using what I swear is half the runway and locks up the brakes.

Complete silence on the plane after he lands. He senses we are all freaked and said well it was either that or go to Beeville. We would have never found the runway again.

The ranch manager in the drive from the airport to the ranch house said he's never seen anything like it and said to himself as soon as the pilot made the move to land - "that crazy ******* is going to try and land!".

Later that year that same pilot totaled that plane in Amarillo in a snow storm landing.
TXCityAggie
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Lao Airlines. Do not reccomend.
Always_Right
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Flight from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando on Silver Airways, basically a crop duster where they handed out room temperature bottled water.
CanyonAg77
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Great_I_Am said:

Flight from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando on Silver Airways, basically a crop duster where they handed out room temperature bottled water.
It was a good flight, but you want small, you shold have beeen around when Davis Airlines served College Station. Six seat piston twins. I was getting my ticket once when the ticket agent said, "....okay, the pilot on that flight is MISTER Davis...."
agdaddy04
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US Air flight from IAH to Philly. We would have a layover in Philly and then short flight to Pitt. On approach in Philly it seems as if we keep circling the airport. You can see other planes landing so something seemed off. Then you saw the flight attendants take several calls from the cockpit and have some pretty nervous reactions. Finally pilot announces that they can't tell if the front landing gear has extended fully so we'll do a flyby to see if the tower can visually see. Still can't tell so we have to wait for fire trucks and ambulances line the runway. Finally touch down and it seems like he keeps the nose up halfway down the runway. Finally brings it all the way down and all is good. After sitting on runway for a while we get back to terminal and head straight to the bar with a co-worker knowing we'll have to get right back on another one of their jets.
AtlAg05
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Not really a sketchy experience but one that made me wonder what the hell was going on.

ATL to Philadelphia on Delta, no issues the whole flight then while I was watching the little screen on the headrest I noticed we were quite far into New Jersey. We passed Philadelphia and the pilot came on and said he'd made a mistake and was going for one of the NY airports! He ended up pulling a U turn and landing.

I can't even imagine how it would happen, this was 2006 so having an airplane go towards NYC when they weren't supposed to hopefully got someone's attention. Maybe that's how the pilot was informed.
superunknown
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Flying US Airways from Yeager in Charleston. Wound up on a Dash 8, cold as ice and windy as hell. Not that big of a deal although the takeoff seemed a bit hurried and questionable...that runway that's basically carved out off the hillside. Then a few months later the end of that runway slid off in a landslide. Maybe that airport just creeps me out. It's probably fine in decent weather but when it's snowing like mad it feels like the beginning of a "why planes crash" documentary.
Zemira
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So not sketchy but fear of crashing yes.

Was on a private 12 seater jet from Houston to middle of nowhere Oklahoma. Weather was crazy storming. Lots of turbulence and bouncing around.


I trusted the two pilots with my life as I probably flew with them 20+ times now. I will not miss those flights to and from Oklahoma ever. Was a short flight but I flew through more crappy weather in those three months than 30 years of flying.

I think the takeoff was the worst as to try get above the weather the pilot kind of went vertical quickly.
aggiedata
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Nothing worse than the sound of hail pinging against the plane. Makes you want to be any where else than on that flight.
RAB87
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Around 2005, 10PM flight from Kauai to LAX. We take off and fly for about an hour with no apparent issues. Pilot announces we're having a compression problem in one engine and are returning to Honolulu. Pilot cycles engine speed the whole way back. You could hear a pin drop as people are praying we don't have to ditch in the ocean. Finally land and pilot says engine will be repaired and anyone who departs the plane forfeits their ticket. Several did - and I was considering. After a couple of hours, they announced the crew has surpassed allowed hours and we would be put up in a hotel that night for a morning departure. Lots of relieved passengers.
AgCPA95
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CanyonAg77 said:

Great_I_Am said:

Flight from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando on Silver Airways, basically a crop duster where they handed out room temperature bottled water.
It was a good flight, but you want small, you shold have beeen around when Davis Airlines served College Station. Six seat piston twins. I was getting my ticket once when the ticket agent said, "....okay, the pilot on that flight is MISTER Davis...."
Funny! Never heard of them but found this in a google search.

Davis Airlines timetable
CanyonAg77
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http://libtreasures.utdallas.edu/xmlui/handle/10735.1/4987



Guy A. Davis was born August 26, 1920, in White City, Texas. He was a consummate airman who made a significant contribution to the commuter airline industry in the state as the co-founder of Davis Airlines (with his wife, the former Mary Bell Dunn).

Davis started flying in 1935 and soloed in a Taylor E-2 Cub at age 15 on March 3, 1940, two years after his high school graduation. He then enrolled in college at Texas A&M, class of 1942, and joined the university's Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1940. In 1941 Davis became an instructor in the program, teaching aerobatics in a WACO UPF-7.

During WWII Davis served as a civilian pilot in the USAAC Ferry Command with the 5th Ferry Group stationed at Dallas Love Field and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1943 flying P-39s, P-40s, and P-51s in the United States, Alaska, and the Caribbean.

In 1965 Davis and his wife founded Davis Airlines at Easterwood Airport, College Station, Texas. Davis Airlines, the second commuter airline in Texas, grew to serve routes from Bryan/College Station to Dallas and Houston with a variety of aircraft: Beechcraft Bonanza, Piper PA-31 Navajo, Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, Beechcraft Model 18, de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander, and Cessna C-402 Businessliner. At its peak in 1977 Davis Airlines served about four thousand passengers each month with 32 daily scheduled flights. Davis and his wife owned and operated the local commuter service accident free for twelve years, selling Davis Airlines to Rio Airways in 1978.

At the end of his 65-year flying career, Davis had logged approximately 18,000 hours in over 100 types of aircraft.

agdaddy04
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Graduated high school at 13 and college at 17. Wow.
CanyonAg77
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agdaddy04 said:

Graduated high school at 13 and college at 17. Wow.
Yeah, I think that's a terribly botched sentence, because in 1935, he would have been 15. I think what they meant to say is that he soloed at age 15, in 1935.

He would have graduated high school in about 1938. Two years after that would be about March 3, 1940. I think that must have been when he enrolled at A&M with the class of '42.

That seems off, but there's a good chance that he went to a junior college first, and didn't come to A&M until after that. That makes sense for him being the class of '42. There's also a shortened war-time trimester system at A&M at this time. So instead of
Quote:

Davis started flying in 1935 and soloed in a Taylor E-2 Cub at age 15 on March 3, 1940, two years after his high school graduation. He then enrolled in college at Texas A&M, class of 1942, and joined the university's Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1940.
What they meant to say was.
Quote:

Davis started flying in 1935 and soloed in a Taylor E-2 cub at age 15.

On March 3, 1940, two years after his high school graduation, heenrolled in college at Texas A&M, class of 1942, and joined the university's Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1940.

I also was going to point out that Piper, not Taylor, made the Cub. But Wiki tells me the Taylor E-2 was, in fact, called the Cub. Piper later bought Taylor out and the company became Piper.
jonj101
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I used to fly Great Mistakes all the time. There was always a fuel, mechanical or weight issue. Plus every pilot looked like they were about 19 years old.
Canyon99
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Great Lakes round trip from Denver to Scottsbluff, NE in a snow storm. Forget what type of plane it was but it had no door to the cockpit. The flight attendant giving the safety briefing turned out to be the co pilot. Never again.
JSKolache
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Epic turbulence over the Pacific south of Japan one time - big drops & lots of shaking for about 10 mins. That was the only time I was ever worried. After it was over I had another scotch, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
ccard257
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atlanta to I don't remember where further north. Blue haze becomes apparent in the cabin and passengers start to murmur. captain comes over the PA and says "yeah we've noticed that too. headed down now for an emergency landing in knoxville. We come in, runway is lined on both sides by what seemed like every emergency vehicle in the county. landing goes fine. They don't pop the emergency exits so I figure we're fine. dude in one of the space suit looking fire suits boards and one lady freaks the **** out. Good times.

Then while we were waiting for a new plane, lightning hit the building. Some on that flight was wanted elsewhere.
FTAG 2000
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Fun thread.

I've flown over 1.2 million miles, have some interesting experiences:

1. Flying Great Lakes from Denver to Pierre, SD. Landed in a blizzard because there was nowhere else to divert to. Like others, had the little prop plane with no door between cabin and cockpit. When they turned on the landing lights all you could see is a white out - blowing snow everywhere. Total instrument landing. Oh, and pilot was maybe 20.

2. Flight from Huatulco, MX to Houston on United. Just about the time we got to the Texas coast the plane started leaking fluid from the wing. Turned out to be hydraulic fluid. Got to land on the longest runway at Intercontinental (we were on a regional jet). Pucker factor was high, met with emergency vehicles, etc. We ended up stopping about 1000 ft from end of runway.

3. Flight from DFW to San Antonio with my folks. Landed with a thunderstorm in the area. About the time we were close to the runway, some crosswinds rocked the plane. We actually rocked enough for the wingtip to hit the ground. I remember looking down the wing at the ground and seeing the sparks. My dad's retired Air Force, flew and fought in 'Nam. He said that was one of the top 2-3 scariest landings he'd ever experienced flying. For perspective, he handed a C130 with skids on the ice in Greenland back in the day, and had the support struts collapse on one side and put a wing into the snow/ice.

4. Was on a flight from Dallas to San Diego a few years ago. About the time we should have started our descent into San Diego, we made a hard right turn. Pilot comes on and announced we were diverting to Phoenix as the company (US Air) had notified him there was a 'security concern' with our cargo. Deadheading pilot sitting next to me and I look at each other and think 'oh ****'. Girl next to us asks the pilot what that means and he says "well, it means they think there's a bomb on our plane."

Lots of other folks on the flight were smart enough to figure it out too. National Guard F16 showed up on our left wing, and escorted us in. Pucker factor was ridiculously high. When we landed and taxiied in, we didn't go to the terminal, they took us to far end of tarmac away from everything and everyone. Pulled up to a stop and there was every alphabet agency you could think of parked there, along with local law enforcement.

They sat there for a good 5-10 minutes at it sucks to be you distance. Felt like an eternity. Finally they rolled up a stair truck, and some poor local Phoenix PD cop (had to be lowest seniority cop on scene) comes on board, removes a single passenger and his bags. Everyone thought maybe he was the bomber.

We got to deplane, had to claim our carry-ons and luggage that had been laid out on the tarmac. Had to go through sniff test by bomb dogs. Got shuttled to terminal, everyone had to go through backscatter (no opt out). They searched our plane too. After three hour delay got to fly on to San Diego.

Turned out the guy removed was the president of Sony online entertainment and some hackers had hacked his AA account, figured out he was on the flight, and tweeted a bomb threat at him, AA.

Looking back, funniest part of it to me was that the president of SOE was sitting in coach, and not even exit row.

CDub06
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I thought this would be a fun read, but I decided to stop reading a few stories in. Got a lot of air travel coming up.
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