Some of the best Christmas moments captured through a lens
In 2018 the hatch of a cargo plane taking off in Siberia opened, scattering the cargo for about 10 miles (16 km). This, however, was no ordinary cargo, but about three tons of gold. There were nearly 200 gold bars, diamonds, and gems worth around US$317 million.
In 2017, a Thomas Cook aircraft flying from Manchester to Cuba had to turn around after passengers noticed that a part of one wing was missing.
In 2019 it was not passengers who misbehaved on a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. The flight was grounded after two flight attendants physically assaulted each other. In 2022, the same thing happened between two Air France pilots who got into a fight in the cockpit.
In 2023, American Airlines was sued by the family of a North Carolina teenage girl, who found an iPhone attached to the airplane toilet recording people using it. This happened in first class, during a flight from Charlotte to Boston.
A British Airways flight from London to Dubai smelled more like a public toilet than a commercial flight. The smell was so bad that it was considered a health and safety issue and the plane returned to London.
Sources: (Love Exploring)
See also: The world's safest airlines
In 2023, passengers aboard Delta Airlines flight DAL209 from Edinburgh to New York looked outside the window and saw flames shooting from a wing. This was shortly after takeoff, so the plane quickly turned around and landed safely.
Most of us prefer to sit next to our travel companions, but one woman really overreacted when she couldn’t sit next to her boyfriend on a Thai AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Nanjing in 2015. So much so that she threw hot water and noodles over a flight attendant.
Dogs can sometimes travel as passengers, but they won’t be allowed to use the passenger’s toilets. In 2014, one pooch pooped so many times that the flight to Philadelphia was rerouted to Kansas because several passengers felt sick.
Emotional support animals come in all shapes and sizes. For example, a turkey was allowed to fly as an ESA on a Delta flight in 2016. In 2014 an emotional support kangaroo was also spotted flying first class on an American Airlines flight. Other animals include dogs, pigs, ponies, and ducks, to name a few.
You’re probably familiar with the movie of the same name, but this happened for real in 2012 when a reptile shop owner hid a cobra in his hand luggage on an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Kuwait. The snake actually bit his hand and started to move under the seats.
While stricter flying restrictions are now in place for pregnant women, these things still happen. In 2014 a baby was born prematurely during a Jet Airways flight from Damman to Kochi. Jet Airways awarded the baby free flights for life.
In 2015, a woman was stung by a scorpion aboard an Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Portland. Luckily, it happened just before takeoff, so the passenger was taken to the airport terminal and checked by medics.
There are limits when it comes to ESA on flights, however. In 2018 an emotional support peacock was not allowed to board a United Airlines flight at Newark Airport, The reason? The animal’s weight and size.
In 2013, a woman was removed from an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York after she refused to stop singing Whitney Huston songs from the top of her lungs.
In 2023, Delta Flight 133 from Amsterdam to Detroit had to turn around after a passenger was showered by maggots. The maggots fell from a bag with rotten fish located in the overhead locker.
In 1990, Debbie Owen went into labor during a British Airways flight from Ghana to London. She gave birth to her daughter midair and named her Shona Kirsty Yves (the initials spell the word “sky”). In 2011, when she turned 18, British Airways gave her two free return flights as a birthday present.
Birds and planes share the skies, and sometimes encounters are inevitable. In 2016, a plane flying from New York to Tennessee had to make an emergency landing after a bird hit the windshield and cracked it.
In 2012 a flight from Manchester to Palma was diverted to London after a passenger set the hair of his friend on fire. The prank got the passenger arrested.
Altercations between passengers happen for a variety of reasons. Back in 2018, a fight took place on a flight from Dubai to Amsterdam because one of the passengers wouldn’t stop breaking wind.
In 2008, a Ryanair flight from Budapest to Dublin had to make an emergency landing in Germany. The reason? A jar of mushroom soup started leaking from an overhead locker onto a man who was allergic to mushrooms.
In 2023, a Lufthansa flight to Stockholm made an emergency landing in Copenhagen due to a strange odor. After careful inspection, it was detected that the strange smell came from the recently installed carpet.
Darren McWalters and Katie Hodgson are a couple of daredevils who decided to tie the knot in midair on the wings of a plane in 2008. The reverend was on another plane in front.
In 2023, thousands of bees swarmed around one of the wings of a Delta Air Lines aircraft at Houston Airport. It was not until the pilots turned on the engine that they started to disperse.
Emotional support animals (ESA) are allowed in most US airlines, provided all the paperwork is done. Back in 2016, a marmoset named Gizmo flew from Las Vegas to Ohio with owner Jason Ellis. It turns out, Ellis didn’t produce the required paperwork, so he and the undeclared monkey ended up on Frontier Airlines's no-fly list.
Certain smells may indeed indicate danger. For instance, the scent of smoke triggers alarm bells. This is what happened during an American Airlines flight from Boston to Miami in 2014. After making a turnaround, they discovered that the smoke scent was caused by burnt breadcrumbs.
Flight attendants Carlos Ciuffardi and Paula Podest found themselves being married by Pope Francis aboard a flight to Chile in 2008. The Pope decided to do so because the church where they'd planned to marry was destroyed by an earthquake.
A 31-year-old Mexican passenger, identified by authorities as Mario, tried to hijack Volaris flight 3041 from El Bajio to Tijuana. The aim was to divert it to the US. The man assaulted a flight attendant and tried to storm the cockpit. He was restrained and arrested after the plane safely landed at Guadalajara airport. Aviation history is full of bizarre incidents like this. Let’s take a look at a few.
In January 2024, passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight got the scare of their lives when they saw a door blowing off shortly after takeoff. Oxygen masks were deployed and an emergency landing was performed. Luckily, there were no injuries.
Birds of prey are allowed in many Middle Eastern airlines. For instance, falcons can travel for free on Etihad Airways. While there are some restrictions when it comes to the number of birds per flight, back in 2017 there was one flight to Jeddah with 20 birds abroad.
In July 2024, a first-time air passenger on a China Airways flight deployed the emergency slide after mistaking the door for the toilet. The flight was canceled.
On December 8, a passenger tried to divert a Volaris Airline flight from Mexico to the US. The passenger prompted an emergency landing after the flight departed from El Bajio to Tijuana. He was arrested by the authorities.
"Today we faced an exceptional situation on Volaris flight 3041, which was covering the El Bajío – Tijuana route. A passenger tried to divert the aircraft to the United States. But thanks to the professionalism and rapid response of our crew, the established security protocols were activated and the flight was diverted to the Guadalajara airport," Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena said.
Click through to learn more about this incident and other bizarre things that happened on airplanes.
While rookie mistakes like this happen, activating the emergency door has been done on purpose too. That’s what a Delta Air Lines passenger did in 2023 at LAX airport. Not only did he illegally deploy the emergency door, he also slid down the Boeing 737 slide. He was arrested afterward.
Passenger arrested after trying to divert plane from Mexico to US
And other weird things that have happened on airplanes
TRAVEL Breaking news
On December 8, a passenger tried to hijack and divert a Volaris Airline flight from Mexico to the US. The passenger prompted an emergency landing after the flight departed from El Bajio to Tijuana. He was arrested by the authorities.
"Today we faced an exceptional situation on Volaris flight 3041, which was covering the El Bajío – Tijuana route. A passenger tried to divert the aircraft to the United States. But thanks to the professionalism and rapid response of our crew, the established security protocols were activated and the flight was diverted to the Guadalajara airport," Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena said.
Click through to learn more about this incident and other bizarre things that happened on airplanes.