The Most Shocking Airplane Incidents of 2023: From Severe Turbulence with Matthew McConaughey to Diarrhea-gate
A mid-flight meltdown, opened exit doors and a heart-stopping altitude drop all made headlines in 2023
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Air travel often comes with some stress and inconvenience, such as flight delays, cramped seats or noisy neighbors.
But this year saw a handful of stories that would rattle even the most seasoned flyer. Here are some of the most shocking incidents that occurred on airplanes in 2023.
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A toddler cries on an airplane.Passenger Has Mid-Flight Meltdown Over Crying Baby
A video showing a man yelling at flight attendants over a crying baby went viral in April.
In a clip shared to TikTok, the unnamed passenger enthusiastically voiced his frustrations with Southwest Airlines employees mid-flight after he claimed a baby had been crying for 40 minutes straight.
"We are in a f---ing tin can with a baby in a goddamn echo chamber and you want to talk to me about being f---ing okay," the man asked before being told by a flight attendant that he was "yelling."
"So is the baby!" he replied. "Did that motherf---er pay extra to yell?"
Flight Diverts After Passenger Suffers Severe Case of Diarrhea
A Delta flight from Atlanta to Barcelona made national news in September after it was diverted due to a passenger's case of severe diarrhea.
In a clip from an emergency call to dispatchers shared on social media, the pilot called the incident “a biohazard issue,” adding, “You know, we’ve had a passenger who had diarrhea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”
“My partner was on that flight!” a user commented on X. “It was pretty bad. It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible. The vanilla-scented disinfectant used on it only made it smell like vanilla s---. After the plane landed, it was thoroughly cleaned.”
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Louis Armstrong New Orleans International AirportPassenger Opens Emergency Exit and Climbs onto Plane Wing
A Southwest Airlines passenger opened the aircraft’s emergency exit and climbed onto the wing of the plane before jumping to the ground in November. The aircraft was still stationed at its gate at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport before takeoff when the incident occurred.
The 38-year-old man was taken to a local hospital after deputies noticed he was “incoherent and not fully aware of his surroundings,” stated a press release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. As the passenger’s behavior appeared to be the result of a “mental health emergency,” he was not arrested or criminally charged.
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An Air France airlines Boeing 777Passenger Discovers Floor Under His Seat Soaked with Blood
Journalist Habib Battah was traveling from Paris to Toronto in June when he discovered the floor under his and his wife’s seats was soaked in blood.
A flight attendant handed him wet wipes when he asked for assistance.
“I started wiping and it was red — blood red,” he told CNN. “And it kept coming up red. I was like, ‘What the hell is this?’ I just wanted to see what it was. After a while, one of the flight attendants said, ‘You’d better go wash your hands, and here are some gloves.’”
When the pilot contacted Paris, Air France HQ replied that the blood came from a human. The previous day, on a flight from Paris to Boston, a man had experienced what Battah says the crew referred to as a “hemorrhage." The pilot had asked that the area be sanitized, but the cleaners overlooked the floor.
Passenger Faces Federal Charges for Allegedly Grabbing Flight Attendants and Demanding a Kiss
In October 2022, a man allegedly grabbed two flight attendants and tried to kiss them on a Southwest flight from Palm Springs to Las Vegas.
In July of this year, an FBI special agent filed a complaint against the suspect, William Morgan, with the U.S. District Court of Nevada, according to documents first obtained by The Daily Beast. The man was then charged with two counts of simple assault, USA Today reported.
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A Southwest Airlines airplaneWoman Kicked Off Flight for Petting Newly Adopted Dog
A woman was kicked off a Southwest flight for petting her newly adopted puppy in October, and a fellow passenger spoke out about the incident.
Sara Price posted a video on TikTok showing the puppy’s owner being removed from their flight out of Colorado Springs after multiple run-ins with flight attendants.
Price told PEOPLE that the woman’s puppy “whined a little” when “the lady from Southwest checking boarding passes came flying over and said ‘if you can't keep that dog quiet, you may not be able to fly.’”
While the woman held the carrier on her lap, petting the puppy to soothe the animal, Price said the same flight attendant instructed, “That carrier has to be zipped all the way, and the dog has to be under the seat.”
After the plane pushed off from the gate, the dog whined again, so the woman “[bent] down to pet the puppy again from outside the carrier,” Price explained. The plane returned to the gate and upon arrival, “the attendants walked up to her and asked her to leave the plane.”
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An American Airlines planePlane Drops 15,000 Feet In 3 Minutes
An American Airlines flight dropped over 15,000 feet In three minutes in August, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 5916, headed from Charlotte to Gainesville, Fla. "landed safely," the FAA said in a statement, noting that “the crew reported a possible pressurization issue.”
“Something failed mid-flight and depressurized the cabin," passenger and University of Florida professor Harrison Hove wrote on X. “The burning smell can apparently be attributed to using the oxygen canisters. The wing flaps came out to immediately lower our altitude so there would be more oxygen. It was terrifying but turned out ok.”
7 Hospitalized After Flight Experiencing 'Severe Turbulence' Made Emergency Landing
Seven Lufthansa passengers were taken to the hospital for injuries they experienced during their flight in March, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Lufthansa Flight 469 from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany had to be diverted to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. after the flight crew reported "severe turbulence" while they were flying 37,000 feet altitude over Tennessee, the FAA told PEOPLE in a statement.
Matthew McConaughey, who was traveling with his wife, Camila Alves, later opened up about their experience on the terrifying flight.
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"It's suspended disbelief. I mean, it's zero gravity," he said during an appearance on the Let's Talk Off Camera podcast in April.
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