Absolute Craziest Events Witnessed By Airline Workers

It should come as absolutely no surprise that there are all manners of complete and utter chaos that erupt when folks gather in a tightly enclosed space to travel with one another for anywhere from 30 minutes to hours on end. Yes, we’re talking about airplanes, but could just as easily be talking about subways. This AskReddit thread inspired piece takes a closer look at some of the wildest moments that were somehow endured by nothing short of heroic airline workers.

1. When the pilot is just simply having none of it.

So, apparently there have been instances of pilots legit walking to the designated passenger waiting ares to glumly “exclaim” that they are not interested in flying the plane on a given day that they were otherwise supposed to be in charge of the whole operation. Redditor u/JadedSession8422 writes, “Saw the pilot walk into the passenger area and say ” I’m not flying this piece of sh*t ” and get off the plane , and all the passengers followed him.” Can you imagine for a second what that must’ve felt like as one of the supposed-to-be passengers? Yikes all around.

2. Checked bags full of oranges.

You’ve got to will yourself to wonder exactly what the backstory was behind whoever up and decided to go ahead and check bags filled to the brim with oranges. Redditor u/TheManWithNoSchtick writes, “Eight large duffle bags, all checked by the same passenger, full of nothing but oranges.” They must’ve been the kind of oranges that writing home about wasn’t even enough.

3. A cargo hold full of bottled water.

In somewhat keeping with the theme of someone insisting on checking numerous bags of oranges, we have here a situation that involved someone being tasked with loading a private plane’s cargo hold full of bottled water. Redditor u/maxwellmaxen writes, “I once loaded the cargo hold of a private A320 to the brim with bottled water.” That must’ve been a fun day on the job.

4. When the plane tries to take off with half of its aircrew still on the ground.

Honestly though, maybe the aircrew was just thinking to themselves, “free day off?” But then again, to be a passenger onboard said plane and to see a sizable amount of people clearly outfitted to help the plane travel gracefully, still on the ground, would be just a bit unnerving. Especially if you’re someone who has any trace of flight anxiety.

5. When the snow sweeper just goes up in flames.

There’s something dark and theatrical about imagining what this scene must’ve looked like as it unfolded. An ice cold snow-packed day, wind blowing the snow across the runway, and you peer out your window only to see a snow sweeper that is clearly having a worse day than you. Redditor u/rinosaurus writes, “A snowsweeper on fullblown fire with explosion on the runway.” Hopefully nobody was harmed during the incident.