Many people traveled far and wide in 2024. For many, the memories began during their journey aboard one of the thousands of flights that circle the world every day.
As 2024 draws to a close, here’s a look at some of the craziest aviation stories from the past year.
Defective door
An incident that quickly went viral occurred on January 5 when the plug door panel, which covers an auxiliary emergency exit operable only on maximum capacity aircraft, blew off an Alaska Airlines flight at 16,000 feet.
The plane took off from Portland, Oregon, and the panel caused the cabin to depressurize. Pilots returned the plane safely to Portland with no serious injuries reported.
Video footage of the incident shows panicked passengers sitting as the wind blew in the plane because of the missing door. The incident resulted in a lawsuit against the airline and renewed scrutiny of Boeing, the plane’s maker.
“Boeing is responsible for what happened,” then-Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said at the time. “Whatever the specific cause of the accident, an event like this simply cannot happen on an aircraft leaving one of our factories. We simply have to be better. Our customers deserve better.”
Tragedy captured on video
An airplane from the Brazilian airline Voepass crashed in Sao Paulo state in August, killing all people on board.
The fiery crash took place in a residential area and killed more than 60 passengers and crew. The plane took off from Cascavel, Brazilin the state of Paraná.
This frame shot from a video shows fire from a plane that crashed into a house in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on Friday, August 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho via AP)
Footage captured seconds before the crash shows the plane drifting vertically and spiraling toward the ground.
Aviation experts at the time speculated that the ATR 72-500 twin-engine turboprop stalled in mid-air.
What is that smell?
In December, passengers on an American Airlines flight from Dallas, Texas, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, were met with an unexpected surprise after a toilet water leak reached the cabin aisle.
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The water could not be turned off and the leak almost crept through the cabin three hour flight.
Passengers are seen holding up their suitcases to avoid what passenger Hilary Stewart Blazevic called ‘disgusting’ liquid as some try to transfer the water.
Wing damage
A United Airlines passenger filmed the wing of a Boeing 757 “coming apart” shortly before a February flight from San Francisco to Boston was diverted to Denver due to the incident.
Kevin Clarke captured the video showing damage to the plane’s wing, which ultimately forced the flight to make an emergency landing in Denver to assess the problem. Shortly after takeoff, he experienced “the most violent, shuddering and shaking” before falling back asleep, he said at the time.
“A pilot came walking down the aisle and chased me,” Clarke told Lawrence Jones on “Fox & Friends.”
“I looked out the window, went back to the cockpit, turned on the PA system and said, ‘We’re being diverted to Denver. There’s some minor damage to… leading edge of wing.” So I immediately threw open my window to look at the wing and the trailing edge of the strut was totally…destroyed, as you can see in a photo.”
“At that moment I think, that’s not minor damage, but… the United pilot is skilled enough to take us to Denver,” he continued. “I think we’re on our way.”
The Boeing 757-200 with 165 passengers on board landed in Denver to resolve “an issue with the slat” on one of its wings. Passengers were put on another plane and arrived later in the day in Boston.
Slats are movable panels on the leading or leading edge of the wing and are used during takeoff and landing.
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Unruly passenger
A few days in 2024, an irate passenger reportedly punched a flight attendant before being escorted off the plane.
American Airlines Flight 1497 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana on January 3 was diverted mid-trip due to an unruly passenger.
The plane was forced to divert to Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Texas after Keith Edward Fagiana repeatedly punched a flight attendant. The incident began after another passenger complained that Fagiana was kicking his seat, according to authorities.
After a flight attendant became involved, Fagiana reportedly became enraged and began punching the American Air Lines employee in the stomach.
JP Gallagher, an elected official from Montana, told FOX4 that his wife informed him of the angry traveler.
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“My wife started hitting me a little bit and saying, you know, she made me pay attention that something was going on,” Gallagher said. “There was a drinks cart between us and the incident. So I couldn’t see much of what was going on, but I did hear some yelling and some, you know, swearing and, you know, the flight attendant saying, stop. It.”
Fox News Digital’s Madeline Coggins, Bailee Hill, Ashley J. DiMella and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
