" I am serious... and don't call me Shirley. "

[Lynx]

I haven't flown a lot, but my first plane ride was sorta unpleasant (apart from feeling the plane going up, which was fun, weeeee!)
I had a mean cold, and as a result my Eustachian tubes (the little tunnels between your middle ear and your pharynx) were clogged, not an uncommon side effect. Going down, the air pressure came back and I had a horrible sensation in my left ear, so my dad the doctor told me to pinch my nose and gently blow with a closed mouth so as to open up the ear tubes again. I did, but nothing happened. I tried again, and blew harder, and then I felt the tube opening up, followed by a piercing pain and a loud PHHHEEEEW sound. Hurt like fuck, it did. Nothing bad happened though.

 

[Ryotknife]

two come to mind.

1. What should have been a two hour layover in Chicago turned into a 12 hour layover. Thankfully i brought a small library of books, which will eventually get me in trouble with security later on as apparently books and bags of cocaine look the same on the security sensors.

2. Landing gear refused to come down on one of my flights, we had to circle the airport for hours while the pilots tried to get it down. Eventually fuel was starting to run out and they had to land even though they couldnt get the gear down all the way. Emergency crews all over the runway.

My father was almost in an airplane to airplane mid-air collision at the airport.

 

[Brainwreck]

All of them.
I've flown 4 times altogether.
I've a phobia of flying. They say these things get better with exposure.

Gotta wonder how I even manage to force myself on the plane.

 

[his1nightmare]

9 hours flight, ~4 years old girl.
For the first 5 hours STRAIGHT, she screamed without any kind of pause.
One of my senses died that night.

14 hours (Singapore-Heathrow, landed last Tuesday night). This little girl, must have been 2 years old, screamed for almost the entire flight. She got herself so worked up that she was almost vomiting, there was simply no coming back from that one. I felt really sorry for her mum :/

Adults suffer from jetlag when an ordinary 24 hour day is stretched to 32 as you fly in the same direction as the earth rotation. Kids = cataclysmic meltdowns!!

I guess I feel a bit better now, thanks.