Craziest air journey tales of 2024

Many individuals traveled far and vast in 2024. For a lot of, the recollections started throughout their journey aboard one of many 1000’s of flights that crisscrossed the globe every day. 

As 2024 wraps up, here’s a roundup of a few of the craziest airline tales of the final 12 months.  

Defective door 

An incident that rapidly went viral occurred on Jan. 5 when the plug door panel, which covers an additional emergency exit that’s solely operable on planes with the utmost capability, on an Alaska Airways flight blew off at 16,000 ft.

The plane was departing Portland, Ore., and the panel triggered the depressurization of the cabin. Pilots returned the aircraft safely to Portland with no critical accidents reported. 

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Video footage of the incident exhibits panicked passengers sitting as wind blew into the plane due to the lacking door. The incident resulted in a lawsuit in opposition to the airline and put renewed scrutiny on Boeing, the maker of the aircraft. 

“Boeing is accountable for what occurred,” then-Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun mentioned on the time. “Regardless of the particular reason behind the accident may develop into, an occasion like this merely should not occur on an airplane that leaves certainly one of our factories. We merely have to be higher. Our clients deserve higher.”

Tragedy caught on video

A aircraft operated by the Brazilian airline Voepass crashed within the nation’s Sao Paulo state in August, killing all individuals on board.

The fiery crash occurred in a residential space and killed greater than 60 passengers and crew. The aircraft departed from Cascavel, Brazil, within the state of Parana.

This body seize from video exhibits fireplace coming from a aircraft that crashed by a house in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho by way of AP)

Footage captured seconds earlier than the crash exhibits the plane drifting downward vertically and spiraling because it plunged to the bottom. 

Aviation consultants on the time speculated that ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop stalled in midair. 

What’s that odor?

In December, passengers on an American Airways flight from Dallas, Texas, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, had been met with an surprising shock after a bathroom water leak reached the aisle of the cabin.

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The water was unable to be shut off, and the leak crept down the cabin in the course of the practically three-hour flight. 

Passengers are seen holding up their baggage to keep away from what passenger Hilary Stewart Blazevic known as “disgusting” liquid, whereas some try and step over the water.

Wing harm

A United Airways passenger filmed a Boeing 757’s wing “coming aside” shortly earlier than a February flight from San Francisco to Boston was diverted to Denver over the incident.

Kevin Clarke captured the video exhibiting harm on the wing of the plane that in the end prompted the flight to make an emergency touchdown in Denver to evaluate the difficulty. Shortly after takeoff, he skilled “probably the most violent, shuddering and shaking” earlier than falling again to sleep, he mentioned on the time. 

“A pilot got here strolling down the aisle and went behind me,” Clarke advised Lawrence Jones on “Fox & Mates.”

“I seemed out the window, went again to the cockpit and got here on the PA system and mentioned, ‘We’ll be diverted to Denver. There’s some minor harm to… entrance of the wing.’ So I instantly threw my window open to have a look at the wing and the trailing fringe of the strut was completely… destroyed such as you see in an image.”

“At that time I am like, effectively, that is not slightly harm, however… the United pilot’s competent sufficient to get us to Denver,” he continued. “I assume we’re on our means.”

The Boeing 757-200 with 165 passengers aboard landed in Denver to “handle a difficulty with the slat” on certainly one of its wings. Passengers had been placed on a unique aircraft and arrived later within the day in Boston.

Slats are movable panels on the entrance or vanguard of the wing and are used throughout takeoffs and landings. 

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Unruly passenger

A number of days into 2024, an irate passenger allegedly punched a flight attendant earlier than he was escorted off the aircraft. 

American Airways flight 1497 from Dallas/Fort Value Worldwide Airport in Texas to Bozeman Yellowstone Worldwide Airport in Montana on Jan. 3 was diverted mid-trip attributable to an unruly passenger.

The aircraft was pressured to divert to Rick Husband Amarillo Worldwide Airport in Texas after Keith Edward Fagiana repeatedly punched a flight attendant. The incident started after one other passenger complained that Fagiana was kicking his chair, in keeping with authorities.

After a flight attendant grew to become concerned, Fagiana allegedly grew to become enraged and commenced punching the American Air Strains worker within the abdomen.

J.P. Gallagher, an elected official from Montana, advised FOX 4 that his spouse alerted him to the enraged voyager.

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“My spouse form of began hitting me and saying, you recognize, getting me to concentrate that one thing was occurring,” Gallagher mentioned. “There was a drink cart between us and the incident. So I could not see loads of what was occurring, however I may hear some yelling and a few, you recognize, cussing and, you recognize, the flight attendant saying, cease it.”

Fox Information Digital’s Madeline Coggins, Bailee Hill, Ashley J. DiMella and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.