What’s The Most Unbelievable Behavior You’ve Seen While Flying?

Flying is usually a complete nightmare, but if you do it enough you can at least find yourself entertained as well as annoyed, tired and broke. The stress of being turned into a physical cog in a bureaucratic machine that takes in travelers and spits out dazed, confused and sometimes groped hot messes would make anyone lash out. Then, the low-paid federal law enforcement officers unleash these messes — ladened with all their worldly goods for the next few days and possibly jet-lagged — into a place where alcohol is served without batting an eye at 6 a.m. The entire process is a recipe for odd and outlandish behavior. 

I love a good body cam video and the best ones always come from the airport. Either too drunk, too entitled, or too mixed up to process that flight attendants have the final say on whether your fly or not, passengers always produce a towering meltdown. But that’s not the only wild things you see in airports. Things can go sideways in surprising ways. So I got to know, what is the most unbelievable thing you’ve seen at an airport? 

I am a frequent flyer, as this gig takes you all of the world to drive cool cars. It isn’t perfect, but it’s still the best gig around. Anyway, I was in Detroit Metro Airport waiting for a flight to France with McLaren and a woman with a ton of bags sat near my gate with her stuff spread all over. A man seated next to her was staring at his phone, but they seemed to be together, as the four-year-old kid she was chasing was climbing all over both of them and he didn’t seem to mind, though never acknowledged the kid. At some point, the little boy told his mom he needed to pee. I guess she didn’t want to leave her bags in the care of her zoned out travel companion, but didn’t want to lug everything with her to the bathroom either. 

Instead, she led the little boy over to the large, black three-tiered garbage/recycling receptacle, picked her son up so he was standing on the side of it, and instructed the boy to let it fly. For a few seconds, I thought I was the only person seeing this, an arch of yellow liquid splattering against plastic bottles, until an airport custodian showed up and immediately started flipping out on the lady who began shouting right back at him. She pulled the kid off the receptacle fast, sending a stream of pee into the air and soaking the kid’s jeans so badly he started crying his eyes out. Dad finally put the phone down at this point, but it was too late. They were asked to leave and their tickets were canceled. 

It was just one of those “am I seeing what I’m seeing?” moments I’ll never forget. So what about you, what is the worst thing you’ve seen while flying? It can be in the terminal or in the air, your choice!