PC Pom

I have to say, the longer I'm here the less inclined I am to return to the UK. Perhaps it's a bloke's thing - less in touch with family and stuff? One of the biggest problems I have is sleeping on the plane. I can't. It's comforting to know I'm not alone in this respect because there are just a handful of us on the plane who'll be awake for the whole journey watching the foreign film videos whilst wrapped in our SA blankets.

With a two week visit I'm out of my head in the first week. Bedtime starts around 5 - 6 pm and then I'm woken up around 7pm. Bite to eat and then back to sleep again a couple of hours later only to rise at 2am. I lose 1 hour every day i.e. 3am rise on the next day, 4am the following until eventually 8am comes around about one week after touchdown. By the start of the second week I'm alive and feeling great - but by then it's a 1000 mile drive around England, Scotland and Wales to get to see everyone for about half a day each. I remember once we could only spend 1 hour with a couple of friends. It was getting silly by then and I drew the line from that point onwards. It wasn't a holiday at all - more like an Anneka Rice challenge. Oooh, there's a blast from the past!

In 1992 I flew alone from Brisbane to Heathrow via Singapore, Dubai and Moscow. If ever there was a flight I would never want to repeat it was that one. The Brisbane to Singapore route was pleasant enough with Qantas. Mind you, I was sat next to a couple straight out of a Coronation Street sub-plot. For four hours of the journey I had to put up with the tales of how their daughter had got involved with an Australian lad. They'd just spent some time with them and, well, they weren't impressed with the Aussie, I can tell you. But I won't, as I wouldn't want to take up any of your valuable time and, well, frankly, piss you off for four hours. I was never happier to pretend to be asleep on that first part of the journey.

Then I changed planes and flew Aeroflot. First there was the language barrier. This big (and I mean Olympic shot putter big) Russian bloke wanted my seat. Fortunately the chap next to me spoke pigeon English and pointed out that I was sitting next to his rather fit blond girlfriend. Honestly, I had the right ticket. I could have argued with him but seeing as I could barely move on the plane - seating space never a priority on Soviet built passenger aircraft - I was glad to give up my '80s thread for the front of the plane that faced an inspiring grey board. This was better than the back of a seat just a couple of feet away from my face. More leg room! No wonder the Aeroflot staff had designated him this type of seat. I would have loved to have seen his face after the journey. Then again...

The seat belt had been adjusted to accommodate my Russian friend so I adjusted it to accommodate little old me and promptly realised that it had come unbolted from the seat. So I flew seatbeltless from Singapore to Dubai. There was no on board entertainment, other than watching my new neighbours get thoroughly pissed on Tiger beer. The food was awful.

Dubai was mind-blowing as it was glitzy and rich and I'd never seen so many machine guns before... It was bigger than Singapore. Once the plane had re-fuelled we were herded like cattle the same way we'd left the plane, onto a cramped bus, virtually at gun-point.

Moscow was cold and grey and a big sign welcomed us to the duty free shopping area. It said "Moscow International Airport. The Best Duty Free Shopping in the World". All the shops were shut, the floors had been recently wiped and the water had pooled in places more than 6 foot wide so your feet got wet. The gents was a disgrace. Now I think about it, there were only a handful of shops, the most impressive of which sold Breshnev style hats.

Flying out of Moscow was a great pleasure too. Again it was an Aeroflot carrier, only significantly smaller. A real continental breakfast at last and English papers. It's a pity I was too knackered to read them.

I could mention the military escort we had once we passed into Russian airspace (that was interesting) and the method employed by Aeroflot to pressurise the plane before take off, so as to eliminate ear blockage on ascent, and the dripping menthol vapour as we entered the craft, and the text book perfect landings by all the Aeroflot pilots... But I'll leave that for another day.

What's your worst long haul flight experience?

Mipik

Funny thing.
I saw the title of the thread and one of my trips on Aeroflot came straight to mind.

1990 from Novosybirsk to Moscow.
Food, entertainment (what enetertainment???), other passengers as could be expected.
To start with.

The little problems started maybe an hour into the flight, a bit of noise, a lot of rattling and soon one of two enginees died.

So the remaining 5 or 6 hours we plodded all the way to Moscow, on one engine, airplane flying at a bit more than a little tilt...

Onboard crew was seated and strapped in. Faces green with panic (that was giving passengers a lot of confidence).

Quite a few bottles of vodka came out of peoples hand lugagge and were passed and shared around...

In Moscow perfect landing was executed by the pilot (these ex Russian military pilots were very very good).

Was I glad to be standing on the firm ground alive?

You bet...

spartacus

A couple spring to mind, London - Tokyo on both occassions, one with Aeroflot the other with Egpt Air.

The Egypt Air flight had no less than three stopovers; Cairo (with an overnight stay), Bangkok, Manila. Queing on the gantry to board at Heathrow, was greeted by a whole host of people trying to get off but being physically restrained by stewards / stewardesses and security. Lots of pushing and shoving, shouting and chanting, and they were eventually forced back onto the plane which was a little worrying as that was where I was going. This was the late 80's so the terms 'asylum seekers' and 'forced repatriation' weren't in such common use as they are today. Very nervy flight to Cairo where we overnighted. Then it all becomes a bit of a blur, we may have stopped in more places on our SE Asian sojourn but I'd already lost the will to live. The overriding impression left however, was that of a Bangkok 'knocking shop' as the plane gradually filled with asian ladies destined for the hostess bars of Tokyo.

Mipik

Now, I have never been on these flights but they were quite famous at the time.

Moscow Kabul for a year or so when Kabul has been surrendered by mujahedeen who were trying to shoot down any planes from the sky.

Passenger flights were being flown by Russian military pilots. To reduce the time they were in danger zone they were coming in very high and basicaly diving in at the last possible moment.
Heard that it was quite a ride.
Normally more than half of passengers would throw up

Nu-Shooz

I have never slept on any flight i have been on. I would love to go first class, only in my dreams though

Nick11

Worst flight!!! My daughter throwing up alien style fashion all the way from Dubai to Brisbane for 12 hours!!!! No help at all from the lovely emrates crew who pretended we were invisible to the naked eye!!!!
The smell was revolting and I pity the poor people around us!
On landing at Brisbane she declared herself well and fit and wanted an ice cream!

moneypenny20

Brisbane to Singapore - Singapore Air - September 2005. Took off at midnight, single female so automatically given window seat. Two ENORMOUSLY HUGE people - and I mean seriously ******* huge next to me. Lights went down and tweedledee and tweedledum promptly put seats back and snored for England. Discovered my seat wouldn't go back and also discovered my tv didn't work.

Legs started twitching. Tried to sleep upright wedged against window as ******* enormous huge elephant had all my arm rest and some of my seat. Ping - wide awake club!!!!!! Attempted to contact steward but they were kipping in their bit. All around the gentle snores of vaguely comfortable people whilst next to me the thundering snores of ******* enormous elephants.

All I could do was stare out of the window for seven hours counting the red light flashing on the wing.

I got off a jibbering nervous wreck with black bags about a foot deep under my eyes and a vaguely manic expression.

If any female travels alone, do not, I repeat do not allow yourself to be given a window seat.

flodsfive

Don't forget Guruda, worst flight ever 1981 only 11 years old but still remember it.

We had two stops scheduled but got an announcement a few hours into the journey that we would take a detour can't quite remember where, I think Kuwait or Karatchi.
Apparently they had a few extra passengers to pick up to fill the seats. Like a bus. The flight time took hours, lost luggage. The aisles were full of I think scarab nuts (the bit they spit out). oh, and a vague recollection of lot's of smoke. (pre smoking ban)

Would never fly them again. Do they still exist????

Grayling

I was upgraded to first class on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Manchester.

It was good....the seat turned into a bed.

I fell asleep (rare for me on a flight), slept the whole trip.....and missed all the booze and food:curse:

My wife drank champagne all the way and thought it best to not wake me.

G

Grayling

My worst flight was a couple of weeks ago.

Brisbane to Changi.....the entertainment system was the old style and did not work properly

Singapore airlines from Changi to manchester:

I have never had such an uncomfortable seat and they turned the oxygen mix right down....every time I dozed off I would awake with a start struggling for breath.


....and I've got to do it all again in a few weeks


G

MartinH

I had to go to Jeddah on a business trip - BA was sold out so I ended up flying Saudi Air.


I didn't realise that they don't serve alcohol !

Pomster

not a long haul but it was Air India.

We caught an internal flight and the second the plane took off, everyone stood up and started 'talking' at the tops of their voices to people many many rows away.
Mid flight an announcement was made to advise us that 'sigris were not to be used on the flight"...apparently there were two families up front trying to light up their little butane filled cookers.
We were so relieved to get off alive!

Tom Sawyer

Eeeeeerrrr, no. Common misconception. We can't actually "turn down the oxygen mix". If you want to get technical, if it was a 747, maybe turned an air con pack off, or maybe turned a recirc fan off which will reduce airflow through the cabin. But you cannot turn the oxygen levels down, and I don't know of any airlines that actually endorse any of the above scenarios as they are outside of the normal operating manual. It is quite normal to get breathless whilst asleep on a plane as your respiratory rate drops normally when asleep, and the aircraft is not pressurised to sea level pressures, so your body has to work a bit harder anyway. Sleeping whilst upright doesn't help either as you slouch which can restrict your airway. Nothing to do with any crew actions, and if oxy levels were that low the masks would automatically drop.

newjersey

Try Newark to Syracuse on a 10 seater. The plane is wide enough for you to touch the opposite wall without so much of leaning over. Worst part was sitting next to the guy with the worst fear of flying ever. The flight took less than an hour, but it felt like three with this guy and his uncontrollable jitters and gasping for air and moaning all the way. Ah, and for what it's worth - all that was separating us from the pilots was a curtain (pre-Sept 2001 though - don't know if they fly this route any more) and it was not fully closed, so you could see the approach over their shoulders- them trying to catch the centerline on the tarmac and coo's and woo's from a vibrating fella next to you - ahh, how can I forget that Needless to say - no service on this flight, can't remember if there was a toilet either - I think not, and I think this guy would have shat himself anyway.

NJ

Grayling

It was a 777

So how come it has never happened to me before?....and I fly a dozen or so times a year