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.

 

[jenib]

Mine was a trip CBR - HBA via MEL - travelling with a colleague who had been up very late the night before finishing performance assessments . Three things happened:
1/ Boarding the CBR - MEL leg, I asked her what seat she was in - she checked and her boarding pass was exactly the same as mine. In her daze she had reprinted my boarding pass instead of her own. After claiming that I was really me we had to stand aside at the gate until they sorted it out.
2/ once onboard, she put her headphones on and turned up the volume loud as it didn't seem to be working. Turns out she was raising the volume for the man sitting next to her. He wasn't impressed.
3/ Early the next morning I received a call at the hotel - she wouldn't come out of her room because she had forgotten her toiletries pack and refused to be seen in public without her makeup (wouldn't bother me). Luckily I always travel with those complimentary sachets of makeup etc and found enough to pass through the door to her.
I still laugh about what exhaustion can do to someone normally very competent!

 

[drron]

My third and last post. this time the passenger was unique. twas I.
December 1969 and I was flying HIR - POM. Henderson field was a WW2 airfield and after being taken by the Americans became a vital part of the battle of the Pacific. In 1969 it wasn't that much different from the 40s. That probably was because it only began operating in 1969 as Honiara's airport. An internet photo i found.


I had arrived early. It was a lovely morning so I sat outside the terminal resting up on my backpack. And I mean a real backpack used for many hikes In those days you carried your luggage to the plane in Honiara. About 45 minutes before takeoff the Captain walks over to me and sys are you mrron. Yes I am. So he said you are the only passenger today would you like to leave now. Indeed. So the Captain carried my backpack to the Fiji airways HS 748. Beside me there was a FJ flight engineer plus 2 FAs in the cabin. Before take off the flight engineer came and had a chat. I mentioned it was my birthday. So he went and talked to the Captain and came back saying good news. The Captain says it is an open bar today.

Well a 23 year old Aussie sharing a birthday with Boonie you can imagine how it all went. Yes I had a rather boozy flight. No RSA regulations in those days.
So we arrived in POM and as soon as I appeared at the top of the steps with an FA on each arm the band started plaing God Save the Queen. Turns out they wee expecting Sir Paul Hasluck our GG back then. To give them their due the GG was flying in on an HS 748..It took them a couple of minutes before recognising that the inebriated fellow descending the stares was not the GG. I did confuse them a little later when a Commonwealth car turned up to take me to my lodgings in the Australian Government compound staying with the head of the Department of Works head - a good friend of my Faters.
A birthday to remembe.

 

[amp-qld]

Back in the 80s, I used to have to fly GAS air domestic in Nigeria, Romanian BAC 111s with Romanian flight crew and Nigerian cabin crew. Sometimes, a guy would appear with a step ladder, take a panel from the ceiling and start doing "maintenance". Once, they said we would fly at 6000 feet. I asked why and they said the pressurisation had failed but they would fix it in Lagos (our destination).

 

[kevrosmith]

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

The whole aircraft clapped after takeoff when we departed CNS for HND on VA on the day of torrential rain which started the post-cyclone Jasper floods in Cairns. It was very touch-and-go whether we would depart at all, as it was reported water was already over the northern end of the runway, and we were meant to take off to the south. The pilot had the great idea to depart from the southern end of the runway and after some calls & calcs, was given the approval. After takeoff everyone was so relieved, and the CSM announced that apparently the levy wall surrounding CNS had breached after our departure and the runway was subsequently flooded. There was rapturous applause for the pilot and crew. The airport closed for the next couple days, so had we not left then, we wouldn’t have gotten out until it reopened.

Not an onboard antics story, but just noting that sometimes Aussie pax clap on the plane too.

 

[Bindibuys]

Welcome.

Nothing too crazy for me but my friend took a 1.2m long plush (fairly sizable - small child sized) into NH F with him. Turns out they had some F seats empty so his plush got their own seat basically.

Something like this?.... Missy the travelling Rabbit.

 

[trooper]

I have to admit I was INVOLVED in the strangest onboard activity Ive seen. Many years ago (1989) a group of about 20 of us were on the same flight heading to Bali for a Skydiving Convention... super cheap package deal, Garuda both ways (but turned out to be an American chartered DC-10 operating for them with an American crew) After a while, and a few drinks (of course) a bunch of us decided to gather in a compact group..and move slowly from the rear of the cabin to the front.... and then back.... and then forward again... at which point the First officer came out and told us to stop it...

 

[AuSammy]

Back in the early 2000s we flew from Guilin to Shanghai on China Eastern. Every few minutes there was an announcement in three languages (one of which English) advising passengers not to open doors in flight which I thought rather strange.

Immediately after the announcement was made we were commencing descent into Shanghai half a dozen passengers near the front of the plane stood up, retrieved all their hand luggage and queued up at the forward door. The cabin crew remained in their seats and said not a word. The said passengers were still standing there waiting to disembark when the door was opened at the gate

 

[DejaBrew]

After a while, and a few drinks (of course) a bunch of us decided to gather in a compact group..and move slowly from the rear of the cabin to the front.... and then back.... and then forward again...

Appreciate that drinks were involved, but what were you all trying to achieve? Or did it just seem like a hilarious idea when you were all tipsy?

 

[Jacksta]

30 or 35 years ago now on a now defunct (for maaannnnyyyyy mannnyyy reasons ) Indonesian airline from Sulawesi to Jakarta. You only needed a first name for your handwritten ticket and boarding pass and I’m pretty sure no ID to check in at the “desk” which was an old wooden door stretched across 2 A frames …. Started with the plane leaving 45 mins EARLY because they’d overbooked and already had enough passengers to fill ALL the seats (many of them with 2 or 3 people each) plus the staff jump seats with passengers too …
Chickens in boxes squawking a couple of piglets - legs tied to a bamboo pole that wouldn’t fit in the overhead bins in the aisle.
Mid way through takeoff had a man start freaking out and running screaming for the exit door … jumped on by 6 other passengers … untied the piglets who got to sit in someone’s lap for the rest of the flight and tied up the “gentleman” till he calmed down (or passed out …still not sure which )
Aside from the Bulehs (us westerners) on the flight no one else even seemed to find it in the least bit worrying or strange!!