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Worst non-crash flight experience ever - can't blame Spirit on this one

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by Viva Las Vegas, Oct 10, 2019.

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  1. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

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    Yep, my SWA early Saturday morning (6 or 7 AM) Chicago to Las Vegas flight a few years back was delayed after landing for several minutes to allow police officers clear access to arrest two involved in a brawl during the flight (they were handcuffed on the exit ramp out of view of passengers, called out one at a time).

    Meanwhile, in Moscow



    My love for you is like a truck, Berserker.....
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
  2. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    Yeah buddy brings back memories of my Air Force day’s too. I’ve been cross country and over the pond in a C-130, C-141, C-5 and a KC-10 as well as the CH-3E I mentioned in another post. Climbing over cargo to go take a piss was the highlight of the flight...NOT!!!

    Gawd when we flew on the C-5 and the KC-10 it seemed like we were upgraded to first class compared to the C-130 and C-141.

    One of my most memorable experiences was on the KC-10 I got to go in the tail and watch the refueling of the F-16’s as they followed their gas station in the sky over the Pacific.

    I also got to go up to the flight deck of the C-5 as we were flying along the coast of Kamchatka. Talk about a massive sized cockpit, those guys have plenty of room up there.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
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  3. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    Here’s a story about one of my “white knuckle” flights, again in an Air Force helicopter. One day we were heading back to home base, it was winter so the density altitude wasn’t high at all, I mention that because it factors into this event.

    Fire up #1&2 engines all systems looking good, engage rotors all is well and the aircrew taxi the Jolly Green away from the parking area to avoid rotor wash from taking out adjacent aircraft during hover and takeoff.

    This is where things seem a bit odd to me but who am I to question the pilots, I just fix their aircraft I don’t fly them. Normally they would take off from the taxiway, just pull up on the collective stick, hover and off they go.

    Instead of the usual hover and takeoff the pilots taxi to the EOR and initiate a takeoff roll that is normally done during warmer weather when the density altitude is higher and hovering is either not possible or extremely difficult.

    So we are rolling down the runway like a fixed wing takeoff, as the airspeed approaches ~100 knots or so the pilot with the stick pitches up like a fighter jet taking off in afterburner. We are almost in a straight up vertical climb, I could hear the rotor blades screaming for mercy as they approach stall.

    As the aircraft reached its vertical climb limit gravity takes over and the giant whirlybird begins a descent back toward terra firma.

    Fortunately the pilot with the stick knew what he was doing and turned the aircraft over to regain control of it before impact with planet earth.

    Had he not recovered the falling aircraft we could have spared the expense of digging our graves because the impact would have put us all six feet under.

    Upon recovery from the near stall, said pilot with the stick, does the maneuver again over the opposite end of the runway. We were so low over the runway, gaining more airspeed to repeat this death defying act, I believe the radar altimeter reading was near zero.

    Up we go again, in another near vertical climb towards the heavens, the confident pilot with the stick masterfully and confidently regains control of the aircraft as before and we narrowly avoid a meeting with our maker again.

    Now I’m hoping this fighter jock wannabe helicopter pilot is finished showing off his flying skills. Nope...he’s got one more maneuver up his sleeve.

    He now banks the aircraft to the right in a nearly 90° attitude for a 360 around the airfield before we make our departure towards home station.

    The pilot with the stick levels the aircraft and off we go into the wild blue yonder while I managed to rearrange my intestines and other associated organs back into their original upright and locked position.

    Y’all remember the scene from the movie Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise is hanging on the outside of an aircraft in flight? Well I was in a position like that during this acrobatic flying stunt, but fortunately on the inside.

    Yep the only safety device I was wearing to prevent me from falling out of the aircraft was a gunners belt. Even though I was securely attached to the cable running the length of the cargo area of the aircraft I was not strapped in a seat with lap belt and shoulder harness.

    Fortunately I was seated right behind the cockpit bulkhead which happened to have the aircraft boarding ladder securely stored on it within arms reach.

    As the pilot began his aeronautical stunt show I was able to grab a hold of said ladder and hang on for dear life. With both hands maintaining a firm grip on my makeshift safety device and my internal organs moving freely about the cabin I was unable to reach the mic button on my intercom cord to alert the aircrew of my situation in distress. So I just had to hang there and go along for the ride.

    After an uneventful flight back and safely RTB we put our toy away, headed for the club and I’m sure y’all know what we did there.

    At the end of the day I looked up into wild blue yonder and thanked my creator for delaying our eventual meeting another day.
     
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  4. Dutch34

    Dutch34 High-Roller

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    Years ago I was flying United, home to Chicago and we hit really bad weather. We ended up diverted to Rockford of all places (a 50 minute drive from O'hare), and on the way down, the teenage boy next to me didn't quite get the barf bag up in time to catch all of his projectile and yours truly took the brunt of it on my suit pants. The kid was mortified. I was less than pleased, but it's not like he did it on purpose.

    Fast forward a few weeks later and I'm at a Sam's Club and who do I run into....the boy and his mother. When I saw him, he got wide-eyed and flustered. We shared a good laugh and went on about our day. Small odds to run into the puker.
     
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  5. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    Not quite as near-death as some of y'all, but flying Aeroflot back in the bad ole days before we were all lovey-dovey with Boris and Ivan was a real treat. I'm guessing our pilot got extra points for saving wear and tear on the tires. Used about twenty feet of runway on takeoff, drag racing a Soyuz FG vertically and then using less than twenty feet of runway on landing in Leningrad. Just because you don't actually have an arresting hook, doesn't mean we can't pretend. But best of all was the pre-flight cocktail service. Individual glasses? Nooooo...Svetlana just ambles down the aisle with a bottle of Smirnoff, a shot glass and a rag, embracing the cleaning power of grain alcohol. Put the spurs to 'er!
     
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  6. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    This one wasn't really that scary, as it started & finished so quickly that there was no time for the emotions to kick in until it was over...and my "emotional reaction" was to laugh.

    Republic flight from Vegas to Houston... we are at cruising altitude (30K ft?)...drink service is well underway... suddenly, without warning, the plane goes completely perpendicular for a few seconds... (I'm looking out my window straight at the ground), sharply banking... drinks go tumbling from every served passenger not drinking a beer & holding their own can :cool:... several overhead bins open, spilling luggage (but amazingly, not much...and nobody was hurt!)...several passengers screamed.
    Within seconds, the pilot righted the plane and we were cruising along smoothly, just as before.
    He gets on the intercom and tells us that we got just a bit too close to a private jet, apologizes for the disruption - but that it was necessary to avoid a mid-air collision, and says that all cocktails are comped for the duration of the flight...which made me happy!

    I'm sure he had to report that to FAA or NTSB or somebody... but it wasn't really a "scare" moment, since it happened & ended so quickly.
     
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  7. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    I’m sure the FAA knew about it before the plane even landed. The aircrews of both aircraft had some questions to answer by them shortly afterward.

    BTW: We had a similar incident on a cruise ship in Alaska. Ship made a very steep turn to avoid hitting something and everything not tied down went flying. We were sitting at the bar when it happened. All the liquor and glasses ended up shattered on the floor and we were knocked off our seats.
     
  8. flyguyfl

    flyguyfl MIA

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    NEVER NEVER fly in something where the wings go faster than the fuselage.
     
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  9. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    Yeah those were the most death defying five years of my career. Fortunately I survived them with a few stories to tell.
     
  10. vic568

    vic568 Tourist

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    1. Flight to LV with a layover in Denver. Kept circling the airport when finally the pilot comes on tells us we are being diverted because of storms. A little while longer tells us we are landing somewhere in Nebraska since we are running out of gas. Land on an itty bitty runway. Maintenance worker had to come and fill up gas. I swear we saw the pilot use a credit card. Next thing the alarms go off and we are evacuated into a small building because of a tornado on the ground. As we evacuate and go into a small building (looked as if this airport had two gates-and it's completely empty except for the people on our flight)we see the tornado on the ground a few miles away. Storm blows over, we go back out to take off and we just had enough runway to take off. Finally land in Denver and it's a madhouse with people running around (our orginal connection left 2 hours prior-or was cancelled) Finally got a flight out to LV and arrived around midnight (started at 8am EST that morning) better for us than some who ended up spending the night in Denver.

    2. Last year for Super bowl weekend, flew into Phoenix (was avoiding Denver in the winter). Storms in Vegas and all flights are cancelled from 2-6pm. Just wiped off. Found out our luggage was on the plane on the tarmac but we weren't going to be on that flight. (or any flight till Sunday afternoon?) My luggage is not going to Super Bowl weekend without me. While in line, booked a car at the car rental facility and drove straight to the airport in las vegas. Luggage was just coming off. Picked it up and headed to the hotel.

    3. Few other notables: Been on more than one flight at our local airport where the pilot overshot the runway and had to go back up and around.
    Husband's aunt had a medical emergency on the plane home from our wedding (just too much Vegas!) Aunt ended up being ok but that was the quickest flight we ever had.
    Was in Tampa flying out and some guy refused to get off his phone (really? wtf!) taxing down the runway and told my husband, "Why aren't we speeding up?" Pulled back in the gate, security came on and swiftly took the guy away. While waiting the pilot comes out and tells all of us he has a tee time and we are not going to be late. Made it to LV on time.
    Waiting to take off in Phoenix and had to wait while a sand storm was approaching-or that's what they said it was(way weird experience) and sat through it. Whole plane just shook for about 5 minutes.
    Few white knucklers landing in Vegas where everyone clapped.
    Think we've had our fair share! Last week's flights were uneventful and guess it's part of the adventure.
     
  11. nhcris

    nhcris VIP Whale

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    This is an overly dramatic recounting of a flight from one of my cruise trip reports on another forum:

    We were descending through the bumps into Worcester, when I watched us climb from 2500 feet up to 4000 feet. I watch the flight channel like a hawk and caught this immediately. I knew something was up, but thought maybe they were doing a runway change due to the winds or had to go around for a general aviation aircraft. But then we just circled a few times. Hmmmm.....

    After about 15 minutes of wandering aimlessly through the bumpy air, the pilot came on and informed us that our flaps were stuck and they were working on figuring out what to do. A couple people promptly puked and now there was a very strange atmosphere onboard as we could hear mumbling (prayers?) and other bizarre sounds. I tried to remember everything I know about no flaps landings, and how long the runway at Worcester was and I didn't really like the answers. So we flew around for awhile longer and the pilot came on and said we were diverting to Boston.

    Okay, good plan. I know they have a nice long runway and better facilities. I was still pretty tense. So after a very, very long downwind leg the pilot came on one more time and told us that we would hear a lot of noise and we would be met by firetrucks because we had to keep our speed much higher than normal (stalling would be BAD!) and our brakes would get very, very hot... Yep, damn lady up front puked again. You know how they say you life sometimes flashes before your eyes? All I could see was my XXXXXXXXX and how much I didn't want my kids to see it ....

    Landing in Boston is an adventure on a good day because you come down right over the water and have to clear the seawall before touching down. I knew that on this day, we needed to touch down as quickly as possible. My face was glued to the window as we hurtled toward the runway. We touched down perfectly and then the plane screamed and groaned and shook and kept speeding down the runway. Then we stopped!! After a moment of silence the passengers burst into applause! I was still tense, because I knew those brakes had to be hot as a XXXXX or worse & I contemplated pulling open the nearby exit and sliding my fat ass right off that plane. Just then the firetrucks pulled up and gave us the all clear. NOW I COULD BREATHE!
     
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  12. Headache 21

    Headache 21 i don't wanna grow up, i'm a toys'r'us kid

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    I sat next to a friend 300 pound German woman on a frontier flight from McCarran to Dulles last spring. That was fairly traumatizing
     
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  13. Horseplayer1

    Horseplayer1 High-Roller

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    No scary reports like some of the others mentioned......but was on a late night flight back from Vegas to Seattle. A group of about 8 senior citizens had partied pretty hardy in the lounge before the flight. Probably had 2 rum and cokes on the plane as well. We hit some turbulence somewhere over Oregon and one by one, they started an epic barf-a-thon that was legendary. You know how it makes you gag to hear/smell people vomiting, it's contagious. Must have been a good dozen people gagging and puking for about 15 minutes. I think the flight attendants were looking for parachutes.
     
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  14. finsfanscott

    finsfanscott Low-Roller

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    Gotta open those AWAY from you, so the dressing splooges on the seat in front of you.
     
  15. Ninjamom

    Ninjamom Low-Roller

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    Nothing scary or anything but
    Deff. Spirit! Super delayed flights, having us board the plane on one of those airline rollup stairs, outside on the runway in Feb in Chicago .

    Then one time on a overnight flight back from New York, I Saw the biggest brightest shooting star I have ever seen! it was coming right at us ! I can not believe no one else saw it, I was frozen in fear thinking it was a rocket coming straight for us, (Like if I was in charge of getting us all out of the way we would have all exploded) then it shot to the side and fizzled out like shooting stars do, and my mind slowly put it together that we weren't gonna die and it was just a shooting star. scared the crap outta me.
     
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  16. Ninjamom

    Ninjamom Low-Roller

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    Oh and I forgot about the time my mom left her passport on the airplane after we all got off. and as you all know NO ONE is allowed back on the plane after you leave according to FAA Rules!! OMG I thought my step dad was gong to turn inside out. He was so pissed at my mom. But.. Thanks to her we got past customs and the HUGE line we were waiting in to go sit in a room with a bunch of other airport freaks.
     
  17. MrBBonz

    MrBBonz Low-Roller

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    Flight from Washington to South Korea was a brutal 19 hour mental exercise, in a time before smart phones.
     
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  18. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    Louisiana to South Korea via Alaska and back in 1979 aboard an Air Force C-141. If it weren’t for some adult natured men’s magazines to look at we would have gone berserk.
     
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  19. Las Vegan Cajun

    Las Vegan Cajun High-Roller

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    We also made a pit stop in Japan before our final leg into Korea. Even though it was a pit stop and we were not staying in country we still had to go through their customs.

    They did not allow pornography to be brought into the country so all our entertainment magazines were confiscated by customs.

    Now here’s where it gets interesting, since we were on a US military installation (Yakota AB) it was okay to sell those same magazines in the BX.

    Yep, as soon as we cleared customs we went to the BX and on the mag racks for sale were the very same magazines we just had confiscated by customs. Go figure!!!
     
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  20. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    Ha, I've done the ORD-PEK flight more times than I can count. The trick on that one is to stay awake so that when you land around midnight, you can get a normal (albeit extended) night of sleep and hit the ground running.
     
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