8 Bizarre Mid-Flight Emergencies Will Make You Laugh (and Cry)

In the long litany of travelers' nightmares, the in-flight emergency is probably the most prominent. Engine issues, turbulence, raucous passengers, the cocktail cart taking forever to get down the aisle … the list of potential onboard disasters goes on.  Overall, flying remains the safest mode of travel. It's been nearly 14 years since there was a commercial airline crash involving fatalities. But with flight service ramping back up after the pandemic, there's been plenty of runway for other headline-grabbing incidents, from pilot illness to old-fashioned passenger freakouts. These are eight recent bizarre mid-flight emergencies that will make you laugh (or cry). And possibly rent a car. 

Late last month, South Korean police said they were investigating after a passenger apparently opened a door to an Asiana Airlines plane moments before the flight was due to land. Video taken from the flight showed the door hanging open and wind rushing in as passengers were belted into their seats inches away.  The plane was two or three minutes away from landing in Daegu when the male passenger sitting next to an emergency exit opened a cover and pulled a lever so the door opened with the plane about 656 feet off the ground, an Asiana spokesperson said. "I thought the plane was going to explode … It looked like passengers next to the open door were fainting," a 44-year-old passenger told the Yonhap News Agency. No one was injured in the incident, and the man involved was detained by police. 

On Aug. 15, 2022, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET343 was en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa. But the pilots of the Boeing 737 didn't begin their descent to Bole Airport on schedule, ultimately flying over the airport at 37,000 feet, the Aviation Herald reported. Air traffic controllers tried to contact the pilots several times, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, the autopilot disconnected and an alarm sounded, waking the pair. Radar showed the plane turning around and making a landing attempt 25 minutes later than scheduled. Aviation expert Alex Macheras tweeted: '"Deeply concerning incident at Africa's largest airline… Why hadn't it started to descend for landing? Both pilots were asleep." "Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety—internationally," he wrote. "A timely reminder that pilot fatigue is widespread, an issue across the airline spectrum, sometimes systematic, and poses a major threat to air safety."

A Texas man who consumed hallucinogenic magic mushrooms before boarding a plane in October 2022 was charged with assault for attacking two United Airlines flight attendants, USA Today reported. On Oct. 4, Cheurry Loghan Sevilla of Houston boarded a flight from Miami to Washington, D.C. About one hour after takeoff, Sevilla allegedly "yelled, exhibited disturbing/uncontrolled behavior, and assaulted at least two individuals," court documents said.  Authorities said Sevilla grabbed a passenger's arm and began "running up and down the aisle, clapping loudly near the cockpit and yelling obscenities," broke off part of the airplane's toilet door while a passenger was inside, grabbed a flight attendant's breast, and twisted another attendant's arm during a struggle to subdue him. Sevilla was handcuffed for the remainder of the flight. He was met by federal agents at the Washington airport and detained. Sevilla told the FBI he had taken magic mushrooms that contain the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin, court documents said. 

In August 2020, a Scottish man got so angry about his cold airplane meal—and his wife's efforts to soothe him—that he ripped his wedding ring and threw it in her face. Samuel Smith, 64, was on a Ryanair flight from Spain to Edinburgh when he became upset over being served a lasagna he described as "***king freezing," yelled at the cabin crew, and flung the ring at his spouse. According to media reports, this happened about 45 minutes into the flight and after a small bottle of Prosecco. Police greeted Smith and his wife at the airport. When he appeared in court, the judge—told that Smith had stopped drinking, reconciled with his wife, and had "genuine remorse" for his actions—sentenced him to 270 hours of community service and alcohol counseling.

A United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv turned around three hours after takeoff after a passenger got into a screaming match with a flight attendant. The issue: She wouldn't let him sit in a jump seat reserved for cabin crew while he was waiting for the bathroom. "Crew members told him that if he did not return to his seat, the plane would be turned back to New York," an eyewitness told Ynet. She said the passenger didn't take the threat seriously and stayed in the seat, ridiculing the crew. But the flight attendant told the pilot to turn around. When the plane returned to Newark, the man was escorted off the plane and the rest of the passengers were asked to follow so the flight could be rescheduled. Passengers expressed incredulity on social media that the man wasn't being arrested and was hanging around with the other inconvenience flyers at the gate. The airline didn't comment on what happened to the man after he was removed from the aircraft. 

Severe turbulence struck a flight from Angola to Portugal in late March, injuring 10 passengers and causing loose items to be flung dramatically around the cabin of the Hi Fly flight operated by TAAG Angola Airlines. Eight needed medical assistance. Brazilian influencer Diana Assis was on board the flight and told DailyMail.com the turbulence hit two hours after takeoff, at the worst possible time—just as lunch was being served. Images and video showed the cabin in total disarray as trays, food, and utensils were strewn around the aisles. The plane's walls and ceiling were stained with bits of food and splashed beverages. "What the actual F? That was really brutal, there are wet stains on the ceiling," one Twitter user said after viewing the onboard video.

An international flight added an additional passenger in midair last December, when a woman who didn't realize she was pregnant gave birth during a KLM Royal Dutch flight from Ecuador to Spain. "A few hours before landing in the Netherlands, her stomach hurt and she decided to go to the toilet. To her great surprise, after two contractions, she suddenly had a baby in her hands," a spokesperson for the Amsterdam hospital Spaarne Gasthuis Haarlem Zuid told NL Times.  Two doctors and a nurse were on the plane and assisted the woman, identified only as Tamara, after she delivered the healthy baby boy. "We are very grateful to them," an airline spokesperson said. Tamara named her son Maximiliano, after one of the passengers who came to her aid. 

And last March, an off-duty pilot flying as a passenger helped take control of a Southwest plane after the captain had a medical emergency mid-flight. It happened on Flight 6013 shortly after takeoff from Los Vegas at 6:30 a.m. In air traffic control recordings, an unidentified person on the flight is heard describing the situation to emergency workers. "The captain became incapacitated while en route. He's in the back of the aircraft right now with a flight attendant, but we need to get him on an ambulance immediately," the man said. The man said the captain had felt stomach pain and then "fainted or became incapacitated" about five minutes later, the Washington Post reported. He "came back to" a minute or so later, the man said. "We had him on oxygen," he added. A nurse who was on the flight helped take care of the pilot. At some point, a pilot who was on board stepped in to help cover for the incapacitated captain and return to the Las Vegas airport. Citing privacy guidelines, Southwest didn't offer more details about the pilot. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the incident.