Strangest (weirdest) in-flight passenger antics?

[drross]

OK I'll start the war.

First of all, passengers of QF30 clapped after successfully landing at Manila. I think that was deserved (and I think it was also out of relief). OK, so that's a notable exception.

I don't know which cultures around the world clap when the plane lands; I think they do in Mexico or other parts of Latin America. It may be strange to us, but it's not say a stupid thing to do. People make jokes that we should ostracise those who applaud when a plane lands; I'm not one to lean that way, no more than we shouldn't make fun of people who prefer to eat rice with a fork rather than a spoon (or vice versa). Or starting a flight with a pre-flight prayer.

That said, it doesn't make sense to applaud unless basically the whole plane does it.

Definitely Germans and Mexicans. Flight leaving Havana a few years ago, lots of clapping when we eventually and successfully took off…long story

 

[Ozchorlton]

OK I'll start the war.

First of all, passengers of QF30 clapped after successfully landing at Manila. I think that was deserved (and I think it was also out of relief). OK, so that's a notable exception.

I don't know which cultures around the world clap when the plane lands; I think they do in Mexico or other parts of Latin America. It may be strange to us, but it's not say a stupid thing to do. People make jokes that we should ostracise those who applaud when a plane lands; I'm not one to lean that way, no more than we shouldn't make fun of people who prefer to eat rice with a fork rather than a spoon (or vice versa). Or starting a flight with a pre-flight prayer.

That said, it doesn't make sense to applaud unless basically the whole plane does it.

British charter fights for package holidays (bogan or chavs) always clap when the plane lands

 

[Cloud9]

British charter fights for package holidays (bogan or chavs) always clap when the plane lands

Don't forget the neds!

 

[dumpsterjuice]

About a decade ago I flew Ezyjet UK to Croatia, and the flight was completely outnumbered by young, undesirable, chavvy/bogan types complete in uniform by either full Adidas tracksuits or barely clothed at all. By "outnumbered," I mean that on a full flight, there were maybe 20 actual adults with their kids or adult travellers scattered among them.

As soon as we took off, the banter started.. music anthems blasting, loud conversations between groups yelling across rows. It really all kicked off mid-flight however . They got rowdier and started playing music on portable speakers. Some had smuggled full bottles of alcohol onboard and were discreetly swigging until they were drunk enough not to care anymore.

From there, the inebriated choices began.. multiple people (of same or mixed sexes) cramming into the lavatories and at least one tried lighting up a cigarette. We weren’t even halfway through the flight and it had already turned into an airborne nightclub.

The cabin crew couldn’t do much beyond watching it unfold and alerting authorities in Croatia. Luckily, the flight wasn’t diverted. When we landed, some rather stoic-looking Croatian police boarded and singled out the worst offenders (it's almost like they had already done this procedure before and had an expression of "not again"). They were escorted off one by one. Each time, their fellow friends loudly clapped and yahooed. This delayed getting off by about an hour. Still had an awesome holiday in Croatia.

The rest of us—normal passengers—either loathed every minute of it or sat back and treated it like in-flight entertainment. I felt bad for the younger kids onboard, clearly upset by all the chaos. And yes, this was peak European summer.

 

[Cloud9]

About a decade ago I flew Ezyjet UK to Croatia, and the flight was completely outnumbered by young, undesirable, chavvy/bogan types complete in uniform by either full Adidas tracksuits or barely clothed at all. By "outnumbered," I mean that on a full flight, there were maybe 20 actual adults with their kids or adult travellers scattered among them.

As soon as we took off, the banter started.. music anthems blasting, loud conversations between groups yelling across rows. It really all kicked off mid-flight however . They got rowdier and started playing music on portable speakers. Some had smuggled full bottles of alcohol onboard and were discreetly swigging until they were drunk enough not to care anymore.

From there, the inebriated choices began.. multiple people (of same or mixed sexes) cramming into the lavatories and at least one tried lighting up a cigarette. We weren’t even halfway through the flight and it had already turned into an airborne nightclub.

The cabin crew couldn’t do much beyond watching it unfold and alerting authorities in Croatia. Luckily, the flight wasn’t diverted. When we landed, some rather stoic-looking Croatian police boarded and singled out the worst offenders (it's almost like they had already done this procedure before and had an expression of "not again"). They were escorted off one by one. Each time, their fellow friends loudly clapped and yahooed. This delayed getting off by about an hour. Still had an awesome holiday in Croatia.

The rest of us—normal passengers—either loathed every minute of it or sat back and treated it like in-flight entertainment. I felt bad for the younger kids onboard, clearly upset by all the chaos. And yes, this was peak European summer.

Sounds like a tame Deathstar flight from MEL to DPS.

Or an upmarket bus in Cairns.

 

[Forg]

About a decade ago I flew Ezyjet UK to Croatia, and the flight was completely outnumbered by young, undesirable, chavvy/bogan types complete in uniform by either full Adidas tracksuits or barely clothed at all. By "outnumbered," I mean that on a full flight, there were maybe 20 actual adults with their kids or adult travellers scattered among them.

As soon as we took off, the banter started.. music anthems blasting, loud conversations between groups yelling across rows. It really all kicked off mid-flight however . They got rowdier and started playing music on portable speakers. Some had smuggled full bottles of alcohol onboard and were discreetly swigging until they were drunk enough not to care anymore.

My sister lived in London for ... I guess 5-6 years, from her mid 20's.
The first place she worked was in an office environment with another couple of dozen similarly-aged financial-services professionals who all behaved much the same as she'd worked-with & had drinks after work with in Sydney ... and the first summer she was there someone in the office organised a trip with about 10 of them to a Greek island that I've forgotten(*).

She was pretty astonished at how the switch had been flicked & they all turned into Ali G stereotypes all of a sudden! She wanted to go out & do stuff at night but do visiting-somewhere-new stuff in the day, the only other person who was interested in doing that with her was someone from Johannesburg ... everyone else wanted to go as hard as they could into the night (which was apparently not really all that late) until they passed out in a cloud of puke, then start on that again shortly after breakfast.

Which I guess isn't on a plane per se, although they GOT there by plane so it's peripheral to the thread in a kinda/sorta way.



(*) Not because I was there with them!

 

[gilldo]

About 10 years ago I was flying CBR-MEL with QF on a near full flight. Aisle seat in Y.

Everything is going fine until we're almost on the ground, where the lady on the window in my row, who'd been pretty quite and even asleep for part of the journey, worked out she needed to puke (my guess is flu/gastro of some sort).

She had a sick bag and started to fill it at such a rate to cause concern. None of us wanted an overflow situation, so Mr Middle seat and myself quickly found our bags and passed them across. FAs came down and retrieved the FULL bags, but bags 2 & 3 were filling fast. Almost every person in the rows in front, behind and across the aisle made sure we didn't run out.

I reckon she filled 6 bags between clearing the threshold and arriving at the gate. I've never heard so much liquid filling sick bags in all my life (and they did hold the moisture well).

Kudos to all around and the FAs for ensuring we didn't have to endure any serious stench.

 

[gilldo]

Around 15 years ago I was on an ADL-MEL flight with QF on a Sunday night.

Noticed a lot of young women get on and head to the exit rows.

It was the Victorian state womens footy team who (by the sounds of things) had just beaten South Australia.

Firstly, we got a raucous rendition of the Victorian team song (for those that don't know, it's a variation on the North Melbourne one).

Secondly, I was already a bit ticked off when I couldn't get an exit row (but understood), but I was even moreso when I found that one of the players they'd put in there had her leg in a cast and was on crutches. How the hell was that girl expected to get out in the event of an evacuation, and her crutches would have been in the way of others.

 

[jb747]

Those of us who were flying instructors, especially at Pt Cook, where aerobatics were the rule of the day, will all have memories of students who suddenly needed to part company with their last meal. If you were careful with how you manoeuvered the aircraft, you could ensure the cloud of muck stayed on their side.

 

[DejaBrew]

About 10 years ago I was flying CBR-MEL with QF on a near full flight. Aisle seat in Y.

Everything is going fine until we're almost on the ground, where the lady on the window in my row, who'd been pretty quite and even asleep for part of the journey, worked out she needed to puke (my guess is flu/gastro of some sort).

She had a sick bag and started to fill it at such a rate to cause concern. None of us wanted an overflow situation, so Mr Middle seat and myself quickly found our bags and passed the across. FAs came down and retrieved the FULL bags, but bags 2 & 3 were filling fast. Almost every person in the rows in front, behind and across the aisle made sure we didn't run out.

I reckon she filled 6 bags between clearing the threshold and arriving at the gate. I've never heard so much liquid filling sick bags in all my life (and they did hold the moisture well).

Kudos to all around and the FAs for ensuring we didn't have to endure any serious stench.

Reminds me of a New Year’s Day QF flight from MEL to SYD a number of years back. Pilot aborted landing at what seemed like the last possible moment and I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people vomit in unison before or since!

 

[drron]

My other very different flight was way back in 1969. Flying in a TAA DC3 from POM to Lae. Sitting across the aisle from me were 2 rather tall locals wearing only lap laps and each carrying a very long spear. The fellow on the aisle was holding a young piglet.
A bit of turbulence over the Owen Stanleys an the fellows obviously didn't have their seatbelts on and headed towards the roof. The spears stuck in the roof and the piglet escaped and ran up and down the aisle. Evaded everyone for a while. The 2 spear carriers retrieved their spears and the piglet carrier went after the pig catching it with a diving tackle.
The Captain came down to inspect the new holes in the roof. The plane though continued on And I got off in Rabaul. A few days later back in a DC# to Honiara. I recognised it as the same plane with the holes still visible.