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14 Dark Secrets You Need To Know About Flying.
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14. Flight attendants are most likely not serving dinner for a reason. “On night flights, we sometimes hold off on meal service as long as we can so that you’ll be asleep and we’ll have less to do,” confessed a flight attendant who decided to remain anonymous.
13. Don’t touch the plane water…ever. "Do not EVER drink water on an aircraft that did not come from a bottle. Don't even TOUCH IT. The reason being - the ports to purge lavatory sh*t and refill the aircraft with potable water are within feet from each other and sometimes serviced all at once by the same guy," @gruntman on Reddit revealed.
12. Those oxygen masks will actually only give 15 minutes of air. Any situation on an aircraft is considered dire once the oxygen masks drop down. However, knowing that after the initial drop of the oxygen mask, the oxygen is only obtainable for about 15 minutes, makes the notion even scarier.
11. Getting arrested mid-flight is still possible. The captain of the aircraft actually has immeasurable power to several undertakings, including having the authority to "arrest people, write fines and even take the will of a dying passenger if need be once the doors are closed," revealed @virgadays on Reddit.
10. Pilots sometimes fall asleep while they’re flying. Tracy Christoph, JetBlu flight attendant with over 20 years of experience in the airline industry, stated "On longer flights, pilots are assigned to take rest periods while their co-pilot mans the controls."
9. Airplane air is actually air from the engine’s compressors. "The air you breathe on an airplane is actually compressed air taken from the engines. A large portion, 25% to 50%, is blown in the flight deck; the rest is for the passengers.
8. How checked bags are really “checked.” "If it says 'fragile' it's getting thrown harder. If it says this side up, it's going to be upside down. We have to fit freight and 100+ bags in a cargo pit. It has to fit how it's going to fit." an anonymous airport luggage handler confessed.
7. The option of upgrading to first class after takeoff is possible.
6. People steal lifejackets. "People take those lifejackets, located under or between your seat, as souvenirs. It's a vile and punishable offense, and while airlines do check each seat at the start of every day, a plane could make several trips in a day, during any one of which a passenger could steal a life vest," George Hobica, airline expert, revealed.
5. Flight attendants probably aren’t following cell phone rules. Turning off cell phones use to be a widely known and infamous rule every flight attendant instructed before takeoff. This was before FAA determined that it was indeed safe for passengers to use electronic devices during takeoff and landing back in 2013.
4. Tipping goes a long way. Abbie Unger, a former flight attendant employed by US Airways Express who retired to publish a book about becoming a flight attendant and launch a new career as a flight attendant consultant in 2011, disclosed, "Many airlines actually discourage tipping and advise that crew members turn down a passenger's first attempt at offering a tip. Try a second or third time, though, and your flight attendant will feel free to accept."
3. Treatment of pets is not exactly top priority. Traveling with pets is sometimes inevitable. Although most airlines claim the well-being of passengers and animals onboard is the upmost priority as well as promising to ensure the safest protocol is met, this promise is not always kept.
2. There’s most likely organs on the plane. American aircraft pilot, author and columnist Meryl Getline once stated, "Many people don't realize that airlines often carry organs cross-country for emergency recipients, so I explained this to my passengers. 'Incidentally,' I added, 'this is a lunch flight. I'd stay away from the liver.' I could hear them laughing through the cockpit door."
1. There are often several hidden amenities on the aircraft.