17 people share the worst thing that's ever happened to them on a plane.

Flying is almost always a nightmarish test of our collective faith in humanity as we sip a sad gingerale while soaring through the sky in a germ-infested metal tube...

So, when a Reddit user asked, 'What has been your worst experience flying in a plane?' people were ready to vent about the fellow passengers who clipped their toenails into the aisle, coughed constantly, or failed to attempt to soothe their screaming children. Cheers to plastic miniature wine bottles and watching someone get their bag down from the overhead bin with all the urgency of a corpse in a marathon.

1.

6 hour flight to the west coast. Plane was very hot inside, had two small kids behind me screaming and kicking the whole time. The row was 3 Seats wide. My row was three sweaty fat people (myself included). I had the window seat. Behind us was the mother on the aisle seat with a toddler in her lap. The toddler would screech every couple minutes and would run up and down the aisle.

The two older kids behind me spent most of the flight climbing on my seat and playing in the floor hitting my seat. Their names were suuuper basic names like Jayden and Brayden.

I learned through the nonstop arguing and screeching fights. The mom did nothing the entire flight, even with requests by the staff. She only said 'this is why daddy doesn't want us to visit.' - SparkEE_JOE

2.

This was when I was 10-11 years old. Went on a 9 hour flight and had the middle seat. An older woman sat in the window seat and had a horrendous smelling perfume on. The kind that gives you a headache in the first 10 min. She went to the restroom and re-applied her perfume every couple of hours.

The smell plus turbulence was enough for me to throw up for the duration of the flight. For years after I was so scarred that I took motion sickness pills every flight. Only to realize I didn’t have motion sickness, it was just that old woman’s horrible perfume. - DudeAbides29

3.

I was seated next to a woman with an “emotional support animal.” If I had to guess, it was a pug chihuahua mix. Whatever it was, it was small enough for her to keep on her lap. Apparently, the dog needed it’s own emotionally support animal because it was a wreck. It kept standing up, whining, and…. the mofo shyt on her lap and would leak piss anytime someone walked by. The smell - MizzDevious

4.

Flying into SFO once and we hit wake turbulence. “Normal” turbulence just feels like small little potholes in the air, but wake turbulence is side-to-side turbulence caused by disturbed air from a plane in front. I truly thought the plane was going to flip over and crash as we were landing. I’ve flown a lot, so not much scares me when flying. But I still vividly remember that. - Dear_Apricot_9015

5.

Child screaming so intensely for 3 hours that alcohol was comped to 3-4 full rows of passengers. I’ve never heard anything like it since. - SuchSights2ShowYou

6.

My first flight ever: immediately after landing, a woman who was clearly intoxicated screaming about how she needed to get her dog off the storage under the plan.

She started pushing people out of the way and engaged in a physical altercation with another flyer. Needless to say she was arrested. As if the 3 hour flight wasn't enough time on the plane, we had to wait for all this to go down prior to exiting. - jeadv2012

7.

3 medical emergencies in a cross Atlantic flight and I was the only healthcare provider on board. - IPokePeople

8.

Early morning flight to Hawaii for a school trip. Fainted on the first flight, but didn't have time to grab breakfast during the layover. Couple of hours in, started having pretty extreme nausea, but didn't recognize it fast enough. Didn't get to the bathroom in time...definitely barfed in my hands in the aisle. -_- Had to get up a few more times too, but luckily made it to the bathroom in time. Not fun! - ghostdumpsters

9.

We were flying from Florida to London when one of the engines caught fire somewhere out over the Atlantic, so had to turn back and land at New York. The engine on the replacement plane also caught fire, so the pilot had to turn back and land at New York. We didn't chance it with a third plane and went with a different carrier.

I was eight years-old at the time and for some strange reason, I'd never had a nightmare before then. My first nightmare was on the third plane back, and involved a Mickey Mouse in a glass coffin and an emaciated green version of Thing from the Addams Family. - WufflyTime

10.

I unknowingly had a sinus infection when flying from Greece to Italy. Thought I just felt terrible from a hangover. About 20 minutes into the flight my eardrum starts bursting and leaking fluid. It was some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt.

The pressure subsided a bit once we landed in Rome but I had almost 100% hearing loss in that ear until the swelling went down 4 days later. I chug Sudafed like crazy now if I feel any sort of congestion prior to flying. - Ameriace

11.

Getting food poisoning 6 minutes before landing and experiencing the landing on the toilet - camillari

12.

12+ hour flight. Middle aisle on a 747. The seat recliner was broken, the guy next to me took his shoes off and his feet stank, the woman to my left spilled orange juice on me, and the headphone plug for the in-flight entertainment was broken. I did get extra potato chips as a compensation for the seat problem, though. - 26pointMax

13.

Once was in turbulence so bad that a flight attendant hit her head hard enough on the overhead bin and had to be stretchered off. The lights were flashing on and off in the cabin and multiple people around me were audibly saying prayers. - RobertoBologna

14.

Turbulence so bad, just before landing in LGA, that the flight attendants screamed in horror. They do this for a living, so naturally, I sh*t my pants. - yomo0302

15.

About 6 years ago I was sitting on the plane and I suddenly felt a tickle in my throat. It just wouldn’t go away, I’d cough and cough and cough, nothing. The only thing that helped was ice chips, but even then I couldn’t stop it was miserable.

That night I woke up in the middle of the night with two swollen eyes, swollen lips, hives all over my body, hot joints, and a tight chest. I was having some severe allergic reaction to something.

Which means that on the plane… my throat was closing and I just didn’t know it. Of course the ice chips helped because they were keeping the swelling down. What’s weird is that has never happened before or since then and I’m not allergic to anything that I know of. - TheReinsofFullnight

16.

On a flight from Philadelphia to Denver, late December 1990. As we get about an hour from Denver, pilot tells us a blizzard has closed the Denver airport, and we need to divert. We divert to a place called Gunnison Co. Gunnison airport is small, not really set up for large commercial airliners. As we approach , I look out the window and see mountain tops on either side.

The captain comes on a tells us to prepare for an emergency landing. Meaning stow your stuff, buckle your seatbelt, and assume the crash position….as in put your head between your legs. Now I’m about 14 years old, traveling with my Aunt, 2 cousins and their two friends.

My cousin Billy and I are joking about this situation, while my Aunt is praying with my other cousin. We land, and need basically every foot of the runway to come to a stop.

The pilot then has to get off the plane and make a phone call because we are basically alone ,hours from Denver. They get some shuttle buses to show up after about an hour, then we begin the 6 HOUR ride to Denver. That was a long a*s day. - notsowitte