It was recently reported that a US Airways flight to Charlotte North Carolina had to return to the Airport because -and get ready for this- maggots were falling on passengers. Apparently, the maggots were inside meat someone had brought on board and apparently they snuck out of the luggage bin and began dropping on people. While this may be the most disgusting airline incident to occur in a long time, frequent travelers each year share hundreds of stories of mishaps. Listed below are the top ten airlines mishaps (some of them could be considered “gross” and may involve maggots):
1. A passenger who was using the restroom on a Southwest flight getting read to take off flushed the toilet and found himself sitting on the runway tarmac. Apparently, a recent rehab on the plane went wrong and the restroom dropped out of the bottom of the plane. Fortunately the incident did not occur 30,000 feet up in the air. Nonetheless, the terrified passenger swore to never use the restroom on a plane again.
2. A passenger being screened by security at Reagan International Airport was inadvertently detained in a section of the airport for three weeks. The randomly selected passenger was told to wait in a room in the security area, however officers forgot about him and since that wing of the airport was being constructed on the following month, this section of the airport was closed with the unlucky traveler trapped inside. He survived by drinking water out of restroom sinks and by slowly eating a box full of inflight snacks. Reportedly the passenger who sued for four million dollars can no longer look at a pretzel or peanut without vomiting.
3. A plane headed to Walt Disney world in Orlando Florida was inadvertently diverted to the Super-Max prison in Florence Colorado. Passengers were taken off the plane and incarcerated for three days until the mix-up was uncovered by a note discovered by visitors to the jail which had been tossed out a window and which read: “Help, I’m just a tourist!”
4. A compressed air container, normally used to keep airplanes pressurized for flight, was filled with nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, and resulted in a delirious but happy crew’s decision to divert their flight from Buffalo New York to the Bahamas.
5. A man, hoping to get a free vacation to Los Angeles, sealed himself inside a piece of luggage labeled “Lost luggage, send to LAX” on it. However, this piece of luggage was “lost” again and he was sent to Mexico City. Since he did not have an American passport he was arrested and put in a Mexican jail for two weeks until the US consulate arranged for his release.
6. A young girl brought her pet skunk on a flight, and though it was held in the cargo hold, passengers smelled a foul odor during the entire flight which caused about half of the travelers to vomit on the other half who were able to keep their food down.
7. A priest was once on board a Delta Airlines flight next to a man who pretended to have Tourette’s disease an issued a nonstop profanity laced tirade about Gremlins messing around with his food. The priest took the passenger to the emergency hospital cot stored in the back of the plane and performed an “exorcism.” The man described the experience as disturbing, but vowed to never again pretend he had Tourette’s disease.
8. A slightly overweight woman was seated in first class next to Richard Simmons who hounded her constantly about why she needed to lose some weight to feel better about herself. Geraldo Rivera noticed the conversation and filmed it on his iPhone for rebroadcast on Fox News.
9. Similar to the current maggot incident, a woman on a United flight complained to the flight attendant that the “rice pudding” she was served with her pretzels didn’t have enough spices in it. The shocked flight attendant told her they weren’t serving any “rice pudding.” Subsequently, it was found that the woman had been eating a cup of maggots which someone had placed on her tray after discovering it wedged inside her chair. Over a dozen passengers vomited.
10. A man was imprisoned by homeland security after he brought a souvenir sword from Portugal on to his flight to New York. The sword was safely stored inside a bag, until the passenger sitting next to him asked him if he could help her get the gum out of her hair. After trying unsuccessfully for half an hour to get the gum out of the woman’s hair, the man removed the sword from his luggage and was attempting to use it to cut off the hair that was matted together with gum. He shouted in a loud voice, “Hold your head still!” An air marshal immediately arrested him and his case goes before the Supreme Court this fall.
For the top 10 discontinued McDonald’s menu items, click here.
Sources:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/01/2010-07-01_maggots_fall_from_overhead_bin_onto_passengers_flying_us_airways_from_atlanta_in.html
