Real Life Cabin Crew Horror Stories
The life of cabin crew is exciting and full of opportunity. But as with any job…it has its challenges. So, as it’s Halloween we’re bringing you some of the potential cabin crew horror stories and unpleasant experiences lurking at 30,000ft.
Don’t worry though – we’re told such incidents are rare. But before you fill in that cabin crew application, how would you hold up if you had to deal with these situations?
- Unruly Passengers: One of the best and worst aspects of cabin crew life is the passengers. The most common forms of bad behaviour are failure to comply with crew instructions, verbal insults, and drunkenness. Incident reports commonly involve passengers smoking/vaping in the toilets, refusing to wear a seat belt or stow their bags properly, and verbal assaults. Yes, part of cabin crew duties many would prefer not to have to manage is navigating tense situations at 30,000 feet.
- Medical Emergencies: Mid-flight medical emergencies are reported on about 1 in approximately 600 flights. So, the good news is that most flights are incident free, even if you’re a frequent flyer as cabin crew. The most common emergencies include fainting, breathing difficulties and vomiting, which are not usually life threatening. But part of cabin crew responsibilities is managing even the most serious medical incidents with limited resources. From heart attacks to seizures, cabin crew are trained to provide emergency care whilst keeping family members and other passengers calm – whatever the outcome.
- Turbulence Anxiety: Turbulence is a common occurrence in aviation and therefore a part of the cabin crew job. A bit of light rocking is one thing but turbulence so bad that luggage falls from lockers and you feel like you’re dropping out of the sky – not so fun! Crew have even reported turbulence so bad that they have hit the ceiling on the plane. However, it turns out you don’t need to worry. Severe turbulence is rare and does not cause plane crashes. Most cabin crew also love it! It’s one of the few times they can strap themselves in, take five and ignore those call bells.
- Locker Horrors: Most of us just bring the odd bit of clothing, something to read, passports and tickets in our carry-on bags. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. You don’t have to search far to find accounts of rancid fish and freshly severed animal heads dripping maggots and blood from overhead lockers. That’s not a flight you’d forget in a hurry. We’re not sure how cabin crew training equips anyone to deal with those incidents. Luckily they’re incredibly rare.
- Ghostly Encounters: If you’re cabin crew long enough it’s likely you’ll have a spooky tale or two to tell. These most commonly centre around creepy hotel rooms during layovers, but the aircrafts themselves seem to offer a chill or two during night flights. From call bells illuminating above empty seats, to disappearing passengers and sudden and extreme temperature changes in the cabin. Some aeroplanes have such a reputation that more easily spooked cabin crew will avoid working on them. If you love a creepy tale from the skies then head to our previous blog ‘Cabin Crew Ghost Stories’guaranteed to get your spine tingling!
So, have these horror stories put you off a cabin crew career? We hope not. Let’s face it – there is no perfect job. But if you’re looking for a role offering diversity and challenge (with the odd rotting fish thrown in for good measure) then cabin crew is definitely worth exploring. If nothing else, you’ll have plenty of great dinner party stories!
If you’re ready to embark on your cabin crew journey then let us make it easier for you. Sign up for our online ‘Get a Cabin Crew Job’ course which combines everything we’ve learnt about how to fly through the cabin crew selection process – and that we’re now sharing with potential cabin crew just like you.
