Pilots and Flight Attendants Share The Wildest In-Flight Moments They Can Remember

In an ideal world, all airplane trips would go off without a hitch. But as we know, that’s not the case in reality. One popular Reddit thread has revealed that there are plenty of pilots and flight attendants who’ve seen some crazy stuff — sometimes without their passengers even realizing! Here’s a closer look at 40 of the wildest moments they’ve experienced…

40. Coming across a meteor

How about this for a jaw-dropping sight? An airplane pilot wrote, “[I saw] a meteor burn up directly in front of me. [It was at the] same altitude, straight ahead. I have no idea how far away it was, but it was bright, and so pretty. [It] went through a spectrum of colors as it burned.”

39. A violent landing

We’ve heard about bumpy landings before, but this one takes the cake. A flight attendant told how their pilot had warned of some gusty conditions ahead of their plane’s descent. Yet none of them were prepared for what happened next: the wind battered the aircraft all the way down, throwing the cabin crew member around in their seat. They described it as “the most violent landing” they’d ever gone through.

38. Flying into a raincloud

Have you ever wondered what happens if a plane flies into a raincloud? Well, a pilot shared a scary story about one of their experiences. Apparently, when they were just 100 feet or so from landing, their aircraft flew into the edge of a torrential downpour — and it completely obscured their vision. The captain had to pull up another 400 feet before the “white out” dissipated.

37. Blown oil system

This pilot recalled a nightmarish situation from their time in the cockpit. They wrote, “I saw the engine start shaking when a part of the oil system blew. I thought it would die on me. Then, I’d have to land in some farmland or on a small road. Fortunately, we ended up being stuck with one power setting (which was also pretty bad) and could fly it back to the airport.” Phew!

36. Loss of electrical power

Sometimes, the less you know, the better. That certainly fits here. Shockingly, a pilot had to deal with a major power cut when their plane was midway through its landing approach. All the electrics stopped working. As they noted, “It’s a scenario pilots don’t even train for because it’s never supposed to happen.” Thankfully, some of the instruments came back on and they were able to land okay. The travelers on board had no idea how serious it got!

35. Armrest fight

We love using the armrests while traveling on airplanes. But enough to start a fight over them? Probably not! A pair of passengers on this flight attendant’s journey had no qualms throwing their fists, though. Yes, they got into an altercation, and one of them suffered a broken nose for it. The cabin crew member said they couldn’t believe their eyes.

34. Spotting a UFO

For this next story, a social media user wrote, “My father was a pilot, and in the late 1970s his plane [was] delayed landing because there was quite literally an unidentified flying object on the radar. The crew eventually got a direction of where this thing was, and when they looked out their windows, they could see a cigar-shaped craft at about their same altitude.” They noted that the sight drew gasps from passengers and crew alike.

33. Mayday, Mayday

What’s the last thing you want to hear over an airplane’s speakers? How about “Mayday, Mayday”? Well, that actually happened on an aircraft that suffered engine issues above Scotland. According to one contributor, the captain blurted it out to the people on board, as opposed to air traffic control. Oh dear — what a blunder!

32. Bomb threat

Bomb threats are no joke — they’re scary at the best of times. On an airplane, though? One unfortunate pilot had to deal with such a warning as they were traveling across the sea. All they could do was pray that the information wasn’t accurate. And luckily, word didn’t spread to the travelers on board. Happily, nothing came of it in the end.

31. Landing gear malfunction

As a plane was nearing its runway, the captain had to change tack. Why? Simple: something was wrong with the landing gear. It got to the stage where flight attendants needed to ferry some of the passengers to the back of the plane ahead of touching down. The contributor noted that they landed safely, only to spot an army of rescue workers outside. Talk about preparing for the worst.

30. Near miss

As a pilot, you need to be ready to face anything while flying a plane. Still, though, nothing could prepare this poor person for what they saw in their cockpit. They informed readers, “I was landing a Cessna 172, and this massive blue heron appeared out of nowhere. [It] just barely missed hitting my windshield. I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared.”

29. A panicked mistake

Think you’re having a bad day? Well, this pilot might just have you trumped. They said, “During [a] climb, the cabin failed to pressurize. The second I heard the alarm sound, I dived for the oxygen mask lightning quick. So quick that I elbowed the control column which disengaged the autopilot. Not my finest moment.”

28. Struck by lightning

Looking back on a particularly sketchy moment, a flight attendant remembered, “During a very turbulent and stormy flight, our plane got struck by lightning. There was a loud thump and I saw a flash of light that didn’t come through the window. It was scary.” After that, the cabin crew member admitted she’d stayed crouched on her seat mentally recounting all her learned procedures and commands as a distraction until they were safely back on the ground.

27. Is that a blimp?

Picture this — you’re flying an airplane and everything appears to be going smoothly. But then, a mysterious shape suddenly comes into view just ahead. Wouldn’t you panic? A real pilot went through a very similar situation, leaving them completely baffled. What could it be? Eventually they said that they were able to identify it as a blimp.

26. A “wild” passenger

Stories don’t get much crazier than this one. A contributor wrote, “Bush pilot here. [I] loaded an aircraft with a 200-kilogram (about 441 pounds) ‘dead’ wild boar once. [I] climbed to cruising altitude, and the thing started squealing and unraveling from its straps.” The flyer freely admitted that with the animal peering out of a bag and squealing loudly, they’d “never been so scared.”

25. Too close for comfort

How's this for a close shave? An airplane pilot recalled, “I nearly had a bird strike with what I believe to be an eagle while flying a very small DA-40 and on final [approach]. It’s wild how something that appears to be so small can be massive and in your face in the matter of a second.”

24. Different frequencies

Communication is everything, as this next story shows. One flier related, “Pilots should announce their positions and intentions, but it isn’t required by law. I started [doing this] ten miles out. No one else was on the radio frequency, so I landed. [Then], another plane takes off [above me] going the opposite direction. I chewed the guy out, and there was no response. He may not have been on the right frequency.”

23. Hitting some geese

Want to know how much damage birds can do to airplanes? Well, look no further than this tale. A contributor wrote, “My dad is a former pilot. He once told me [that] he almost crashed his Cessna because he hit some geese.” Apparently the flier had been about to start his descent ready for landing when his plane collided with the birds, smashing its windshield to smithereens. The Redditor noted, “They landed safely, but [he] was pretty scarred from that!”

22. Get cranking

Passengers aren’t always aware if something goes wrong on their flight. So long as it can be fixed, that’s not an issue — why create a panic? But certain problems can’t stay hidden. For instance, this passenger wrote that they once saw a co-pilot lift up part of a central aisle to access a lever. Why? Well, the landing gear wasn’t working. They had to manually move it into position.

21. Seizure

This unfortunate pilot, while still a student, suffered a seizure behind the controls of an airplane on a runway. The guy ended up ramming a second aircraft which was valued at roughly $20 million, causing plenty of damage. Thankfully, readers learned that the flier recovered from the ordeal.

20. Smoky cockpit

Without wishing to state the obvious, it’s never a good sign when fumes appear inside a vehicle — especially an airplane. It’s a pilot’s worst nightmare! One flier had to face it head-on, though, when their cockpit started to get pretty smokey. Yet as luck would have it, the problem occurred just after landing, so they were on the ground at the time. Talk about a stroke of good fortune.

19. A nearly disastrous landing

We’ve already noted that communication is key if you’re a pilot, with the radio being one of the most important tools in the cockpit for that very reason. Mind you, mistakes can still happen. Take this tale, where when someone was learning to fly, they nearly landed their aircraft on a grounded plane following confusion over the airwaves. It was a close call!

18. Bad toilet timing

Going to the bathroom on an airplane isn’t always the most comfortable of experiences. After all, things can get a little rocky in there if the conditions change outside. But no one could’ve seen this coming. A flight attendant recalled how one passenger was flushing the toilet when their aircraft suddenly plunged around 15 feet. That caused the waste to fly out and smother the poor guy. Nasty!

17. Lucky escape

Could this be the luckiest of lucky escapes? A commercial pilot recounted how while he was learning the ropes alongside their teacher on a plane, its sole engine suddenly stopped working. They were just getting ready for takeoff. “If [it happened] a couple minutes later, we would’ve been airborne with too much altitude to land on any remaining runway and not enough altitude to circle around,” the flier explained.

16. Two near misses

One near miss for a pilot must be scary enough. But two? As one unlucky airplane captain told how the first incident came about when an inexperienced flier got into the wrong position. Then, the second was a result of a miscommunication from air traffic control’s end.

15. A messy takeoff

This gruesome tale was recounted by a flight attendant who was on an airplane with a collection of schoolkids in the early-numbered rows. But they told how as the aircraft lifted off the runway, one of them became extremely ill. They made quite a mess, to the point where the vomit even traveled past the seats behind them. Ew.

14. A scary shadow

This pilot remarked, “I took a few flying lessons years ago just for the experience. We were practicing landings, [and] as we’re going down, the instructor noticed a shadow on the ground slightly to our right. It was another plane going to land on our runway and was above us.” He explained all ended happily, though with the instructor taking over and averting a collision.

13. A glider

You’ve got to be on your toes if you’re a pilot: split-second reactions could help swerve disaster. Still, though, that isn’t always easy. And one pilot told how they couldn’t believe their eyes when an “almost invisible” glider suddenly hoved into view and nearly smashed into their plane. They just about missed each other.

12. Laser in the eye

Are you a fan of laser pens? If so, please don’t shine them up in the sky. As one pilot noted, “Someone pointed [a] green laser [at my] plane and directly into my eye for a second. [I] was cruising above Indonesia at the time.” 

11. Raining maggots

As horrible as it sounds, with a flight attendant writing, “Halfway through [a] flight near the back of the plane, the overhead bin started raining maggots on the passengers in one row.” The cabin crew member revealed that it transpired that one inconsiderate passenger had decided to fly carrying a dead fish infested with the creepy-crawlies. Even worse, it was wrapped up only in sheets of newspaper.

10. Twin-engine ahead

If you’re finding it tough to visualize what a “near miss” is like for a pilot, this writer offered a heart-stopping comparison. They informed readers, “I had a near miss with a twin-engine that was flying at the wrong altitude in the opposite direction. Imagine oncoming traffic, one lane over — it was that close. Now imagine a speed difference of about 300 knots.”

9. Choking co-pilot

When you’re learning to fly, you place a lot of trust in your teacher. After all, they’re there to ensure that nothing goes wrong. But what if something happens to them? As a former trainee pilot recalled, their guide began to choke on a pretzel in the cockpit. And by trying to help him, the aircraft nearly stalled. Thankfully, they both came away unscathed in the end.

8. Fox on the runway

It goes without saying that you don’t want to be standing in the way of a plane as it’s taking off, let alone lying down. Well, a fox thought it’d try its luck on the tarmac, soaking in the sun. The pilot of the approaching aircraft told how they’d held their breath as they got closer, but the hulking mass of metal was airborne before reaching the animal.

7. A broken engine

How about this for a terrifying moment? One contributor wrote, “My dad’s a private pilot, and his engine went out once when he was flying. He was alone and had quite a bit of panic, but eventually, he was able to land. He told this to my mom, and it was kept a secret from the kids.” We’re not surprised!

6. Flying through a thunderstorm

When the weather turns during a flight, you really are reliant on the skills of your captain. They have to make continuous judgment calls to dodge the worst of the elements. Yet this co-pilot told how they had been on edge for an entire three-hour journey, as thunderstorms littered the skies. Despite their frantic movements, though, the travelers on board barely noticed!

5. Unexpected skydiver

An airplane pilot wrote, “I saw a skydiver about 20 yards off my wing. [I] was flying into an uncontrolled field that I’ve flown into 100 times before — not knowing that after a five-year skydiving ban, they were allowing it on a case-by-case basis.” Sheesh! At least they didn’t collide.

4. Chatty pilot

It’s cool to hear from the captain occasionally during a flight. Then again, we aren’t too sure if this pilot’s passengers were thrilled when he took to the intercom after a bumpy spell. Readers learned how this flier apparently said, “Ladies and gentlemen, sorry about that turbulence. We’re flying through the wake of another aircraft that I can’t quite see up ahead.” Not the most welcome of announcements, right?

3. A broken window

Airplane windows are thick for a reason. You don’t want those things breaking. Shockingly, though, it does happen from time to time. A flight attendant told how they had experienced it first-hand, when a pane in the cockpit got dislodged during a landing. The two pilots came out of it unscathed, but it was still a nerve-jangling incident.

2. A suspicious bright light

This contributor had an amazing tale courtesy of his dad, a pilot who had been flying a Boeing 737 from Las Vegas back towards Toronto one evening. He said: “All of a sudden, he saw a really bright ball of light to the left of the plane, moving really fast across the sky. A few days later, he found out that [it] was a missile launched by a… [Navy] submarine.”

1. Flying through volcanic ash

Surely this would likely end in disaster? Well, this armed forces pilot got very lucky when they accidentally encountered an ash cloud emanating from Mount Etna. “[We were stuck in it] for over 20 minutes,” they recounted. “We started experiencing engine malfunctions. I literally expected every engine to cut out. I didn’t expect to make it out alive.”