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You probably think you’ve got flying down pat.
Packing, checking in, boarding, popping your ears. You’re a pro.
But have you ever wondered how much you don’t know?
Flight attendants and airline workers have taken to Reddit to reveal some shocking truths about what really happens behind the scenes.
Naked passengers
“My father is a pilot and apparently one time when he was flying a flight back to Australia, the champion Australian rugby team was flying back on his flight. They rented out the entirety of first class, and the moment the flight reached cruising altitude, stripped down to their boxers.
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Allegedly they were some of the most polite patrons he had seen, but were just mostly naked,” SidHoog2 revealed.
“Must have been some time ago,” joked Mijakai.
“Found the Kiwi,” replied ClassicalySarcastic.
Airborne germs
“I’m a flight attendant. So many incidents occur on the plane that every day passengers don’t see or consider. My last flight an elderly man accidentally s*** on the floor, stepped in it, and walked on like it was nothing. DO NOT WALK AROUND BAREFOOT,” wrote SeeYou-Never.
“Pee and poop happens, all over. I feel like I witness an ‘accident’ regularly; in their seat or in the lav. People get nose bleeds, or their wounds open. Obviously when we land, it is thoroughly cleaned. But in-flight our resources are limited. DON’T CHANGE YOUR BABY’S DIAPER ON THE TRAY TABLE. This also happens all the time. It’s unsanitary and people use the tray table to eat.”
Body parts
“There are sometimes body parts in the storage area near your luggage (when they are flying transplants for hospitals). Also your pets are in the same area as well,” wrote Oh-Sneezus.
“I’m not a flight attendant but I work the ramp. To elaborate on the body parts, we send full bodies on planes a lot. Some in caskets, some not. Twice in the seven years I’ve been doing this has ‘fluid’ leaked out of the boxes the bodies are in and got all over the luggage,” Legion3382 confided.
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Crop dusting
“As a former aviation journalist I can tell you a few things,” wrote PenguinOpusRedux.
“Yes, on transoceanic flights there is a cabin for crew to get some sleep. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times. On some newer planes there’s also a hold for people who have died on the flight. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times either.
“If you piss off the cabin crew they will fart on you. The pressure on aircraft makes you naturally gassy and it’s easy to puff one off in the face of an annoying git while bending down to speak to someone on the opposite side of the aisle.”
Mental disorders
“I used to work with elderly people, and one of my clients was a former pilot who finally quit when he realised in the middle of a flight his dementia had progressed and he couldn’t remember where he was supposed to be flying to,” GiftOfNarwhals confessed.
Leftover vomit
“On a Delta flight a few months ago, I sat down and my seat belt felt wet. I smelled my hands ... and vomit. I asked the flight attendant if someone had thrown up in the seat before me, and she said: ‘I’m sorry, I watched them clean it up three times.’
“Disgusted, I asked for a different seat — nope, full flight. Couldn’t take a later, because we had my son and it was getting late. So, went to unbuckle my seat ... and little pieces of vomit fell out from the buckle on to my lap,” wrote CreepyQ. He was, however, given bonus miles and free alcohol as compensation.
“I would have demanded it be cleaned up before you occupied that seat. Any sort of human fluid is a bio hazard. I’m an airline pilot. We keep a few extra seat belts in the flight deck hold to replace them if they get soiled,” wrote 4Fifty8.
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Sneaky queue-jumpers
“My late mum was a Delta stewardess for 33 years,” wrote Nodeal-Reddit.
“One common story was about the Delta miracles. Passengers in wheelchairs would board the plane before everyone else, but they had to wait for everyone else to disembark before they could get rolled out. It is apparently common for people to be “healed” during mid flight and no longer need assistance when they reach their destination.”
This article originally appeared in News.com.au.