Top Travel Stories of 2013
The Mile High Harlem Shake – A team 18 Colorado College students who were on their way to an ultimate Frisbee tournament in San Diego staged a Harlem Shake in the middle of a flight. The plane was at 30,000 feet when the team started the shake. It seems harmless enough, but FFA wasn’t happy. They investigated the video sparked a slew of safety concerns that had most officials angry that the crew let it happen citing that the dance could have caused injuries and one “expert” told CNN that the event could be used by terrorists to confuse staff and overtake the plane. I prefer to take things like safety seriously, but I’d hate to see a ban on Mile High Dancing. Although, Kevin Bacon going ‘Footloose’ on airlines would be something I’d pay to see.
I Will Always Love You, But SHUT UP! – American Airlines Flight 4 from Los Angeles to New York was forced to make an impromptu stop thanks to a reason that sounds completely fictitious. A woman refused to stop singing the Dolly Parton tune “I Will Always Love You.” She became disruptive and wouldn’t refrain from belting out the song as an Air Marshal attempted to subdue her and even continued singing as authorities detained her. The TSA investigated the situation and all that was released was the woman’s claim that her diabetes was to blame.
Edward Snowden Drama – It may be a centered in a political scandal, but for over a month Snowden was trapped inside Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. Journalists hounded the whistle-blower from June 23rd to August 1st until he was granted political asylum in Russia.
No Parents, No Ticket, No Problem – These days you can’t sneak a water bottle on a plane, but a 9 year old boy managed to sneak himself onto Delta Flight 1651. The plane was departing Minneapolis and heading to Las Vegas when an unaccompanied child caught the eye of flight attendants. The child managed to get through airport security, past the gate attendant and onto the plane without a ticket. In fact, he had spent the previous day at the airport after running away from home. He was eventually taken into Child Protective Services.
Bieber Baby Bjorn – Speaking of 9 year old boys, Justin Bieber made headlines after making his bodyguards carry him up the stairs of the Great Wall of China. The ‘Baby’ singer was on tour hitting Dalian, China, Shanghai and Tokyo when he made a stop to see one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. A fan snapped a picture of Bieber’s minions carrying him up to see the wall and the internet when crazy with mockery.
Pilot PA Panic – When something goes wrong in flight, the goal of the crew is to keep passengers from panicking. That job was made significantly harder when a Southwest Airlines pilot allegedly told the passengers via the PA system, “We’re in trouble. We are going down!” Several people on the flight clearly heard the pilot and then the Boeing 737 made a steep dive going from 41,000 feet to 9,900 in a ten minute span. An irregular cabin pressure reading tripped an alarm and forced the craft to make an emergency landing. A Southwest spokeswoman said the passenger’s stories are inaccurate, however one of the complaining passengers was sent an email that confirmed the pilot’s mistake by stating, “As the captain was communicating his plan with the flight attendants, he inadvertently activated the PA system in the cabin. We sincerely regret any confusion caused by the relay of the information.” She was also sent a voucher good for a future flight with the airline.
United Airlines Accidental Discount – For about 15 minutes in September, United Airlines gave away free tickets thanks to a glitch. The airline’s website offered free domestic flights fares and only charged $5 for taxes. After word spread, United shut down its online reservations system and gave a statement stating, “One of our filings today contained an error which resulted in certain fares being displayed as zero. We have corrected this error.” The question of whether or not the fares would be honored. To many customer’s surprise, Delta honored the prices!
The Poop Cruise – We collectively cringed watching as the Carnival Triumph cruise ship limped into port after passengers endured 5 days of horrible conditions. A fire disabled the ship leaving it without power and functioning toilets. Rooms were pitch black, but the toilet and food issue were the bigger issues as the boat drifted in Gulf of Mexico currents. Passengers described the circumstances people were forced into with feces in the halls, urine soaked carpets and a lack of order. The first person off the ship described it as a “toxic.” As an apology, Carnival said it would give each passenger $500, a free flight home, a full refund for their trip and for most expenses on board and a credit for another cruise.