[The Windozer]

Originally Posted by glideslope

Most of the time the pilots are certain those who clap are drunk.

What's with some people and getting drunk on airplanes? You're crammed into a (relatively) small room with a bunch of busynessmen, tourists and commuters. They are currently occupied with sitting around, waiting until they get from point A to point B and there is no way for anyone to leave or move around a whole lot. There's no room for dancing, nor people coming there to dance, and the chances of scoring (even when not drunk out of one's mind) approach zero. What's the best course of action in this situation? Get drunk and sit around shouting drunk-talk or get up and cause a disturbance. Who are these people, and why the hell are they getting drunk on airplanes? So that in the event of a plane crash, they will at least not die sober?

[PacHead]

Originally Posted by The Windozer

Who are these people, and why the hell are they getting drunk on airplanes?

Airplane flights are damn boring and I've gotten drunk plenty of times on flights. It makes the flight go quicker and if the people around you are also drinking (hopefully some cute chicks in the seats next to you), then everybody has a good time and the flight goes quicker. The only thing that sucks is you can't smoke anymore on planes, that's bad. I miss the days when I'd be drinking vodka and smoking when flying, like a little party in the sky.

[jcadam]

I don't get unruly when drunk. Alcohol actually has the opposite effect on me. So it's ok for me to drink on airplanes.

My wife, OTOH, is normally quiet but does get unruly when she drinks.

[ShotgunEd]

Yeah. Not everyone becomes a moron with some booze in them.

Some of us actually become really witty and attractive.

I drink on planes usually because I'm starting a holiday and I always start things the way I intend to carry on. I don't necessarily get drunk, I'll have maybe a couple of whiskeys/whiskies with ginger ale, nothing too serious.

[Randman]

Originally Posted by The Windozer

What's with some people and getting drunk on airplanes?

You've never been on a long flight, have you? And by long, I mean more than 8 hours in the air.

[teney7]

The first time I ever flew was a 9-hour flight to London this past March

They served wine, etc to my classmates (BA flight) and some of them were a little loopy by the time we landed

[boardsurfer]

I flew last week to Michigan. While over Chicago there was a really nasty storm that the pilot apparently decided to fly righ threw. Aside from the major turbulence, getting tossed around pretty good - the plane basically went in to free-fall. For about 4 or 5 seconds. EVERybody came out of their seat. There was an ocean of crap floating in the air for a few seconds, papers, food, drinks, magazines, everything was floating. Then it slammed down. There were drinks dripping from the ceiling, the aisle was littered with personal effects, the lawyer next to me lost half of his case file down the aisle.

The pilot said that between the two of them neither has experienced anything like it.

A lot of people clapped when we landed. Some were in tears. Lets you know just how puny you are in teh world.

edit: I think he said 25000 hours of flying, but that doesnt sound like very long.

[davesimondotcom]

I'd clap for a pilot who puts it right down the middle of the runway with the front landing gear perpendicular to the path of the plane, slows it down, and gently grinds to a stop. Like the jetBlue guy.

Otherwise, it's just silly.

I'm a terribly nervous flyer. Didn't used to be, but I had an "incident" and now I get so nervous that I sweat and get sick, just during a normal flight. But I still know it's their job to get the plane up and down safely.

Besides, a safe flight isn't just the work on the crew on board the plane. The mechanics who work on these fleets, the fuel guys, everybody from an airline is involved.

And nobody ever claps for me when I FTP a document or write some good HTML or CSS!