The Mile High Club Sucks: 5 Things Flight Attendants Know

In-flight emergencies are rare for most flight attendants ... except Ben. "I'm the magnet for medical emergencies. I have them all the time. ... Difficulty breathing is common. People who use oxygen don't bring it or request it. Then you get up to altitude, and suddenly they want it."

Not all drama happens at 30,000 feet. Ben's most frightening moment occurred during takeoff. He was in the jump seat (which has no windows), and the plane's wheels had just left the ground. He heard a loud thump at the front of the plane, then two more crashes on the wings. The wheels slammed back on the ground, and they were skidding to a stop. "I'm a pilot myself, and I know you should never land a plane right after taking off, so I knew we were in serious trouble."

Reasons you shouldn't land a plane right after takeoff: A) You're near the end of the runway, and B) commercial planes take off with 80,000 pounds of fuel, which is too heavy to land. If they do try to land with all that fuel, their brakes might burst into flames.

Luckily, they managed to stop before the trees at the end of the runway, and the brakes didn't catch fire. When Ben got outside, he saw the problem: The plane had hit 30 or so geese. "Blood was everywhere. The engines were ruined, their fan blades all bent up." Planes should be able to handle hitting a couple birds, but an entire flock proved too much for this one. Both engines were destroyed. "The plane was dead in the water. ... I hold that captain in high regard. ... He saved our lives."

Flight attendants have only half an hour to turn over a plane between rounds of passengers. They try to keep it clean, but they can't wipe down every tray table. "Tray tables are filthy," Kelly says, "but people will pour their peanuts right on them."

All the flight attendants we spoke to have had dirty diaper run-ins. Kelly points out that every plane has a diaper change table in at least one restroom, but people will change their babies right on the tray tables. (Seriously, just leave those tiny pretzels in those impossible-to-open bags.)

She's found dirty diapers abandoned in the seat pockets and on the floors. Lisa's passengers were slightly more polite, in that they asked before handing her fecal matter. Naturally, she told them she'd have to go get a bag. "I handle food," she said, as if Shithands McGee was only asking because they were unaware of that fact.

And then there was the little gift that Lisa and her co-workers discovered on the bridge. "There were no dogs on that flight," she notes. Apparently, someone didn't feel like using one of the many toilets available in the airport and relieved themself on the bridge just a few feet from the plane.

As anyone that's jockeyed for position near an airport terminal power outlet can attest, travelers are a bunch of goddamn animals.

Lisa was on a flight with a woman who was terrified of flying. She ordered several drinks, all from different flight attendants so no one would catch on. When she was good and wasted, she wandered back to the galley. A tall man was hanging out back there because the seats cramped his legs. The woman chatted up a storm, then grabbed a cookie and tried to force-feed it to him.

That's first-degree cookie assault, and it is not OK.

The most annoying passengers are the entitled ones. Lisa has had people come on the plane and ask (in front of all the other passengers) if they can just have one of the seats in First Class.

Ben once had a disabled passenger who requested the front-most seat so his service dog, a German shepherd, would have room. FAA rules said he had a right to the seat, but the guy who originally bought the spot became irate. He argued with Ben and said, "Well, I guess I'm going to have to become disabled." He started pretending his leg was broken.

He didn't get to keep the seat.

Lisa's instructors like to prank each other too. Normally, you do that little safety pantomime demonstration with a deactivated life vest. For laughs, one instructor switched the demo vest with a live one. The vest popped open and inflated, forcing the other instructor to finish the safety demonstration looking like a post-gum Violet Beauregarde.

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