© Getty Images

Dead body placed next to passenger -

A traveler shared his unpleasant experience on a Qatar Airways flight to Doha after cabin crew placed the body of a passenger who had died mid-flight next to him. The traveler recounted that a female passenger collapsed in the aisle during the flight. He watched on as the crew attempted to revive the passenger. He added that the crew tried to wheel the body toward the business class section but struggled to navigate the narrow aisle. "So they looked a bit frustrated and then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me… and they just said to me, can you move over please?” the shocked traveler shared. “And I just said, ‘yes, no problem,’ and then they placed the lady in the chair that I was in."The traveler said he sat next to his fellow passenger's lifeless body for the remaining four hours of the flight, despite there being other empty seats on the plane. The passenger called the experience "traumatic."

© Getty Images

Bodies found in JetBlue plane -

Two bodies were discovered in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane that traveled from New York City to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The grim discovery was made on the night of January 6 during a routine maintenance inspection after the flight landed. The incident has raised renewed concerns about airline security.

© Getty Images

Body found in wheel well of United plane -

A body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane that flew from Chicago to Maui on Christmas Eve of 2024.
United Airlines said it was unclear how or when the person accessed the landing gear, which is only reachable from outside the Boeing 787-10.

© Getty Images

Hijack attempt -

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.

© Getty Images

A door blew off mid flight -

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.

© Getty Images

A passenger accidentally triggered the emergency door -

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.

© Shutterstock

A passenger slid down the emergency slide -

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.

© Getty Images

Feathered passengers -

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.

© Getty Images

Papal marriage -

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.

© Getty Images

Walk down the wing -

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.

© Getty Images

Monkey business -

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.

© Getty Images

Mushrooms stopped a plane -

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.

© Getty Images

Buzzing wings -

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.

© Shutterstock

No-flying carpet -

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.

© Shutterstock

Expensive toast -

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.

© Shutterstock

Turbulence or flatulence? -

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.

© Shutterstock

Dangerous prank -

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.

© Getty Images

Iron bird -

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.

© Getty Images

Scorpion on board -

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.

© Getty Images

Maggots -

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.

© Shutterstock

Baby on board -

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.

© Shutterstock

Baby on board -

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.

© Shutterstock

Airplanaoke -

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.

© Shutterstock

Noodle attack -

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.

© Shutterstock

Emotional support animals of all kinds -

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.

© Shutterstock

Not all ESAs are allowed -

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.

© Shutterstock

Big pooblem -

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.

© Getty Images

Burning wing -

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.

© Shutterstock

Snakes on a plane -

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.

© Shutterstock

Peeping -

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.

© Getty Images

F(l)ight attendants -

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.

© Getty Images

Lost luggage -

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.

© Getty Images

Missing wing -

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.

© Getty Images

Smelly plane -

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

© Getty Images