# Tell me your flying horror stories! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 4, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108 "2004-12-04T21:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4

**Author:** ![Oilcan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Oilcan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oilcan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108/61 "2004-12-10T09:25:57Z")

We encountered very severe turbulence climbing out of Reno on a 737. There was a girls’ gymnastics team aboard and a sweetly pretty fourteen year old next to me. She, it developed, was on a plane for the third time in her life and utterly terrified. While easily old enough to be her grandfather, I work out daily and can bench press 275. This did me no good. As the plane bucked up and down she buried her face in my neck and did her damnedest to rip my arm out of the socket. I swear to God I thought this sobbing child was going to dismember me. Her fingertips actually tore the skin until I bled and I had a ring of bruise to the bone for a month. God help any pedophile that messes with a 100 pound gymnast. Obviously, I can’t blame the airline or the child, but it illustrates that if it ain’t sumthin’ its sumthin’ else… ---

**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108/62 "2004-12-10T09:36:18Z")

> [@](#): > > God help any pedophile that messes with a 100 pound gymnast. That made me chuckle! I am the mother of a former 100lb gymnast and Boy, is that true! You can get hurt messing with those little girls. In fact…I wonder if my daughter was on your flight. She was about that age when she attended a meet in Reno. I don’t recall any mention of a rough flight but who knows. ---

**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108/63 "2004-12-10T11:02:47Z")

> [@Agent Cooper](#): > > Then they ran out of food with about 50 people to go. Food that costs an additional $7 these days… on a flight that is now at least two hours longer than it should have been. The attendant offered us all the pretzels we could eat. This is why I carry food when I travel. > [@](#): > > I guess what burns me is that any other customer service business has to go out of their way to keep the customer happy. These guys know that the govt is going to keep them afloat, so why bother taking care of the customer? Any other line of business will try to comp you something when they royally fuck up your experience. With air travel, if you are allowed on the plane, and arrive alive, then they have done you a tremendous favor. It’s been discussed before in other threads, but getting you there alive is really the first and foremost mission of the airlines. As **GusNSpot** points out, the government will _not_ airlines alfoat indefinitely. I wouldn’t be surprised if United winds up on that list soon. Finally, aviation is a strange business because sometimes it is in the best interests of the customer _not_ to get what he wants. There are some conditions under which it is just not safe to fly, at which point even the most insistant, “but I gotta be there!” customer must be told _no_. True, the customer may not return, but the the customer is killed in an aviation accident they won’t be coming back either. No matter how well-run and customer-oriented an airline is, there will _always_ be occassions when the customer will be disappointed Which is not say service can’t be improved. But when you come down to it I’d prefer to have a reliable oxygen supply at 30,000 feet and wobbly food service than vice versa. I think it has long been a problem that airlines are not forthcoming to customers as to what is wrong, which needlessly erodes trust. > [@](#): > > One more thing … can I hijack this thread for drug recommendations? What is the absolute best sleeping pill or cold medicine sold OTC? I intend to be as close to unconscious as possible the next time I have to fly someplace. Preferably, someone will need to buckle my seatbelt for me. \>sigh\< \*Some \* OTC cold meds can make you dizzy and sick in the air - Sudafed and counsins be known for that. You might wish to avoid that one, especially since it tends to _increase_ alertness. Benadryl can make you drowsy - but it can also dry out your mucus membranes, which are already taking a beating from dry air on board and the germs of past and present fellow passengers. Just from observation, alcohol seems a popular choice. I am not a doctor, this is not a medical recommendation, and what you do or don’t do is your responsibility. ---

**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108/64 "2004-12-10T15:09:36Z")

> [@Agent Cooper](#): > > One more thing … can I hijack this thread for drug recommendations? What is the absolute best sleeping pill or cold medicine sold OTC? I intend to be as close to unconscious as possible the next time I have to fly someplace. Preferably, someone will need to buckle my seatbelt for me. If your anxiety about flying is bad, it’s worth the trip to the doctor to get something which will work well. Unless you have a documented substance abuse problem, most docs will give you a limited script for a tranquilizer or sleeping pill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-flying-horror-stories/278108.md?page=3)