A lot of people take flying for granted. They are excited to be going on a trip. Maybe to a tropical island for some much-needed rest and relaxation. Maybe they are off to a historical adventure somewhere far away. No matter what, it is always exhilarating to step onto that plane that is going to take you to far off places.

It can also be terrifying to fly. There are a lot of people who have a serious phobia about flying and try and do everything to avoid it. They hear the horror stories and worry they will share the same fate. While that doesn’t happen as often as some people think, it does happen sometimes.

The pilot is the one responsible for the safety of all passengers, and to make sure they all arrive at their destination. They are supposed to be the person you trust the most when you are high in the sky. However, what happens when the pilot does not have things under control? When they are not behaving in the way that they should be?

We have found 20 times pilots did some questionable things while they were flying their planes.

20 Flight Or Fight?

This is a situation that was probable incredibly scary for the passengers on board. On an Air India flight, a flight attendant was inappropriately approached by the pilot.

She confided in a fellow flight attendant, who was male, and he decided to defend his friend’s honour. What followed was a brutal altercation between the pilot and he flight attendant, according to cracked.com.

19 Almost Ran Into Venus

An Air Canada pilot was catching a little nap while on a flight from Toronto to Zurich, something pilots are allowed to do, when he woke up groggy, he thought he saw a plane coming right at them.

Since he wanted to avoid a collision, he swerved the plane with such force that passengers were flung all over the aircraft.

18 A Rambling Sermon

Sometimes pilots can do things that even worry their co-pilot. According to foxnews.com, a pilot on a flight to Vegas said something that worried his partner very much.

He stated, “We’re not going to Vegas, things don’t matter, and we need to take a leap of faith.” He called out to the passengers for help and they were able to restrain the pilot and an emergency landing was made.

17 Pilot Fraud

Fraud is a big problem and it happens in every field, even that of a pilot. According to foxnews.com, a man impersonated a pilot and flew the plane.

They were alerted to something being wrong when the landing was a little more bumpy than normal. The plane landed nose first, which is a huge danger in the world of flying.

16 Forgot To Make Sure The Radio Was Off

We have another instance of a pilot not making sure that his radio was off before speaking freely to his co-pilot.

According to foxnews.com, a pilot was suspended without pay when he went on a rant about how unattractive his crew was that he was flying with. He had clogged up the feed, which is normally used to ensure everyone’s safety, to go on his inappropriate rant.

15 A Little Too Friendly

One pilot needs to pay attention to his surroundings. According to cracked.com, a Southwest Airlines pilot was talking to his co-pilot about how ‘lonely’ his life had become.

What he did not realize was that his mic on his headset was on. That means that every flight crew in the area as well as the air traffic control tower.

14 Got Stuck In The Bathroom

Airplane bathrooms are rather tiny, but we all manage to use them just fine. According to cracked.com, one pilot had a really hard time.

The pilot went into the bathroom and when he tried to leave, there was a malfunction with the door, and he was stuck inside. When a passenger went to the cockpit to alert the co-pilot, he was mistaken for a bad guy who was trying to overtake the plane.

13 Don’t Text And Fly

We all know that you are not supposed to text and drive, but it turns out that rule also applies to flying.

According to cracked.com, a flight was coming into Singapore’s Changi Airport. Right before landing, the pilot decided to check his text messages that he received. This distraction caused him to forget to put down the landing gear.

12 Tried To Open The Door, And Almost Crashed

Who would have thought that trying to open a door could almost cause a catastrophe? According to cracked.com, one pilot needed to leave his seat for just a moment. When he attempted to enter the cockpit again, he couldn’t.

When the co-pilot went to push the button to open the door, he almost pressed the wrong button. He almost pressed the button that controlled the rudder.

11 Let His Kids Take The Wheel

Pilots have children too and they all probably want to fly their daddy’s plane. One pilot decided to let his children ‘pretend’ to fly which turned out to be a big mistake.

According to cracked.com, one of his sons turned the wheel really fast, which caused the autopilot to turn off. The plane thought something was wrong and the pilot was trying to take control again. This caused the plane to veer off and the pilot had to act quick to get it back on track.

10 Flying Is Serious Business ...

Pilots are human too and they are just as susceptible to the lure of the world. One pilot had a problem that made him a danger to operate any machinery, let alone a plane flying thousands of feet up in the air.

According to foxnews.com, 44-year-old pilot named Syaiful Salam was arrested after failing a number of tests just hours before he was scheduled to fly a plane.

9 … Happens More Than You Think

This is a problem that happens more than anyone would like to think, according to foxnews.com.

Back in 2002, there were two pilots, a captain and co-pilot who were ordered to turn their plane around and return to the Miami International Airport. Their behaviour worried staff who alerted authorities and the two were arrested.

8 Pilot Who Missed The Landing

Now, we are not saying that flying a plane is easy, but there are certain things that are just standard operations. Landing a plane is one of them.

According to foxnews.com, a pilot and his co-pilot were so enthralled with what was on their laptops that they missed their landing. They overshot their destination by 150 miles.

7 This Pilot Had To Be Restrained

Pilots are also human, and they can sometimes all victim to the stress of their jobs. A pilot for Air Canada had to be restrained in 2008.

According to foxnews.com, a pilot went on a rant behind the wheel of the plane and was requesting to see and talk to God. He had to be restrained and the co-pilot made an emergency landing in Ireland.

6 “Just Wanted To See What Would Happen”

There are a lot of instances where we do things just to see what would happen. We don’t always do them when we are flying a huge and dangerous plane.

According to news.com.au, a pilot, with no warning, dropped the landing gear. This caused the plane to exceed the speed limits and the plane suddenly decelerated. This terrified the passengers, and when asked why he did it he said he just wanted to see what would happen.

5 Out Of Control Hand Flying

Hand flying is when pilots manually steer and control the plane instead of using autopilot. It is what they train for. According to news.com.au, one pilot took it a little too far.

He must have thought he was a stunt flyer, because he pulled the lever over 120 degrees and performed many manoeuvres that were not safe. This caused the plane to be filled with terrified passengers.

4 This One Saw A UFO … Apparently!

There are two types of people in the world, those who believe in UFO’s and those who don’t. According to news.com.au, one pilot believed in UFO’s without a doubt.

He had made some pretty strange moves in the air, that had caused quite a panic. He claims that a UFO was coming right for him and that was what caused him to move the plane in the jerky way that he did.

3 Almost Crashed Into An Important Building

There was another pilot who almost committed the worst act imaginable. According to news.com.au, this involved a plane that was leaving from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington DC.

This pilot went to take off in the plane, but he had it pointed in a direction that would have meant a tragedy.

2 Causing Panic For No Reason

Sometimes pilots cause panic for no reason, when their job is to make sure their passengers feel comfortable and safe.

According to telegraph.co.uk, one pilot caused unnecessary panic when the passengers were told, “we have ice on the wings, and we don’t want to die.” This was an attempt at an explanation as to why the flight had been delayed.

1 “We’re Going Down” Is Something You Never Want To Hear

In another case of causing panic for no reason we have a pilot from Southwest Airlines. According to telegraph.co.uk, this pilot went on the radio and told the entire plane; “We’re in trouble. We’re going down.”

This was in fact, not true, and the plane was able to make a safe landing.

References: cracked.com, foxnews.com, news.com.au, telegraph.co.uk