Whether it’s waiting at check in, the terrible food, ‘extra charges’, or terrifying journey, flying is a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

But one flight apparently ended up heading back to the terminal before take off due to high winds, though maybe not the kind you’re thinking.

The American Airlines flight had been taxiing for take off from Phoenix to Austin when one passenger noted that an individual appeared ‘audibly disgruntled about something’, suggesting he might be ‘hungover’ or having a ‘rough day’.

Everyone got into their seats, hopefully not also involving a dispute over a reserved seat. What is this, a crossover episode?

But as the plane was preparing to take off one passenger claims they overheard the man getting into an argument with another passenger.

This culminated with the unusual comeback: “You thought that was rude? Well how about this smell?”

And then he apparently let one rip.

Getty Stock Photo

Taking to Reddit, the passenger said: “(I don’t know) what provoked that comment, and while kinda funny to overhear, it was uncalled for especially coming from a grown man on an airplane nonetheless.”

Apparently, things only got worse when people began breaking out the snacks for the journey ahead.

The Redditor wrote: “The man who just purposefully farted moments ago decides to loudly and condescendingly say ‘Yeah, everybody, let’s just eat the smelliest food possible all at the same time’.”

They continued: “A guy in the row over replied, ‘If you don’t like it you can fly private’ to which fartman says ‘That’s so f**king rude,’ and another person nearby chimes in ‘I think we’d all agree you’re the rude one here’.”

Getty Stock Photo

According to the Reddit user, things continued to get worse as the plane moved over to the runway, with flight attendants even having to get involved.

They claimed that eventually, an announcement came over the plane’s tannoy which said: “Apologies for the interruption but we are returning to the gate, we will give you more info when we have it.”

Once the plane got back to the gate, the Redditor claimed that a flight attendant came over and informed the ‘disgruntled’ passenger that he would not be staying on the flight.

They wrote how he said simply: “I don’t understand.”

He was then told they would ‘talk about it off the plane’.

Fortunately the passenger didn’t, ahem, kick up a stink, and reportedly exited the plane without a fuss.

The Redditor said that after he was kicked off, everyone ‘breathed a sigh of relief’.

Presumably not too deeply though.

UNILAD has contacted American Airlines for comment.

A passenger flying across Australia has been forced to pay thousands of dollars after his bad behavior caused the plane to turn around.

Wade Corbett, 34, was one of more than 150 passengers on board the Jetstar flight which was traveling from Perth to Sydney when the incident took place last September.

During the journey, Corbett was accused of refusing to fasten his seatbelt when asked, and when approached by the pilot he locked himself in a toilet and refused to leave.

Corbett also allegedly demonstrated intimidating behavior towards cabin staff when he was refused more alcohol on board.

His disruptions forced the pilot of the plane to divert it back to Perth, but he couldn’t land safely before dumping more than $13,330 ($20,000 AUD) in fuel.

Once back on land, the crew called the Australian Federal Police for assistance and Corbett was arrested and charged.

Meanwhile, the remaining passengers were left stranded overnight.

During an appearance at Perth Magistrates Court last September, Corbett was asked if he had anything to say to the passengers who had been left stranded by his behavior.

In response, Corbett laughed and simply said: “Sorry guys.”

Wade Corbett showed off his bicep when questioned by reporters (9News)

Almost one year on, Corbett appeared in court and pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly behavior on an aircraft and one count of failure to comply with safety instructions.

As a result of his actions, Corbett was ordered to pay more than $5,750 ($8,630 AUD) in fuel costs, as well as a fine of $6,000 ($9,000 AUD) by Perth Magistrates Court.

Federal Police Acting Superintendent Shona Davis condemned Corbett’s actions as she gave a statement outside the court, saying his fines should serve as a warning ‘that criminal behavior on board can come at a heavy cost to the offender’.

“It’s far simpler to obey the directions of airline staff than cause unnecessary issues, which can end up hitting you in the hip pocket,” she said, per The West Australian.

“The AFP is committed to ensuring all travellers have a safe journey from their departure through to their arrival at their destination.”

The plane was forced to turn around after 40 minutes (Morgan Hancock/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dumping fuel is a common procedure for planes which depart the airport with a weight which is above the maximum landing weight.

During a normal flight, the fuel burned during the journey is sufficient to reduce the weight of the plane and make it safe for landing without damage.

However, since Corbett’s plane was unable to make it to its destination, the pilot had to dump the fuel to ensure the aircraft was light enough to land.

An American Airlines passenger has been charged after allegedly opening a plane’s door mid-flight.

On 18 July, 2024, American Airlines flight 2101 set off from Seattle, Washington for Dallas, Texas. However, it was forced to divert and land at Salt Lake City International Airport after an incident occurred onboard involving a 26-year-old passenger.

Eric Nicholas Gapco from Delanco, New Jersey, is reported as having ‘assaulted and intimidated a flight attendant and aircraft crew members’ while onboard the aircraft, The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah’s press release states.

The release alleges Gapco ‘failed to follow instructions to remain in his seat, propositioned a flight attendant for sex, was repeatedly loud, vaped, bothered other passengers, locked himself in the lavatory, and attempted to open the aircraft exterior doors multiple times while the aircraft was in flight’.

The incident took place on an American Airlines flight. (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As a result, the passenger was ‘restrained by flight crew members and other passengers’ with ‘flexible restraints’ used on his feet and hands for the remainder of the flight.

When the plane landed at Salt Lake City International Airport, Gapco was arrested by law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors claim Gapco allegedly also tried to hand another passenger onboard the flight a bag of pills – the identity of which has not been stated, as reported by The Post.

Court documents also allege Gapco told his arresting officer he ate ‘approximately 10 marijuana edibles’.

The investigation is being investigated by FBI Salt Lake City Field Office and Salt Lake City Police Department.

Gapco has been ‘charged with interference with a flight crew, and attempted damage to an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States’.

He is expected to appear in court at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City on 1 August.

The man was arrested when the plane landed at Salt Lake City International Airport. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for American Airlines told UNILAD: “On July 18, American Airlines flight 2101 with service from Seattle (SEA) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) diverted to Salt Lake City (SLC) due to a disruptive customer.

“The aircraft was met by law enforcement upon arrival at SLC. The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority. We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding.”

It’s not the first time an airplane passenger has had to be restrained after allegedly trying to open the door on an American Airlines flight either.

Earlier this year in February, a flight headed to Chicago was forced to turn around after a passenger allegedly tried to open one of the aircraft’s doors mid-flight, prompting other passengers to have to ‘wrestle’ him to the ground and duct-tape him to his chair for the rest of the flight time.

Other passengers spoke out about the incident on social media, one calling it ‘one of the scariest days’ of their ‘life’.

A commercial flight was forced to turn back to the same airport it took off from after 13 hours in the air.

Earlier this year, on 27 January at 10:30am, Emirates flight EK448 left Dubai, United Arab Emirates, headed to Auckland, New Zealand.

However, it never made it to its destination. Warning: Contains scenes of severe flooding:

The journey from Dubai to Auckland was expected to take 9,000 miles – a 16-hour flight – however, after 13 hours in the air, the plane landed back at Dubai International Airport.

Why? Well, because pilots got wind of the news that Auckland Airport had been closed after a downpour of torrential rain hit the city, causing severe flooding, so bad, several people died.

The FlightAware data from the journey shows the plane departing from the airport and making it over the sea, not far from Malaysia, before having to do a u-turn back and resultantly returning to the airport in Dubai soon after midnight on Saturday (28 January).

FlightRadar

Auckland Airport was forced to close its airport and cancel domestic and international flights after flooding left travellers stuck inside the terminal buildings wading through knee-deep flood water.

In a statement it said: “Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today.

“We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority.”

Twitter/@pWreM

Twitter/@tutakirichards

Auckland Airport reopened to domestic flights at lunchtime on Saturday, before international flights resumed on Sunday morning (28 January).

Apologising to those affected by the closure, airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said it had been a ‘really long and challenging night’.

“Our teams, and those of our airport partners, continue to work around the clock to make sure we can get our domestic and international terminal operations open safely as soon as possible,” she said.

New Zealand’s north island had been hit by heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides since Friday, with officials declaring a state of emergency after Auckland received the amount of rain it would have all summer in one single day.

Twitter/@shibinvj007

The death toll rose to four after a man who went missing when he was swept away in Onewhero, a village 70km south of Auckland, was confirmed to have died.

Addressing the incident, Mayor Wayne Brown said to press at the time his ‘big worry’ was despite many Aucklanders thinking ‘the worse is behind us’ it wasn’t.

Brown said the downfall was ‘by far the biggest’ in the city’s history, and that it was ‘well beyond’ levels emergency services could have ‘imagine or planned for’.

UNILAD has reached out to Emirates for comment.