It's amazing pilots are able to think so clearly when half of them are drunk and the other half are running on 2 hours of sleep.

Way to go, Captain.

Yikes.

The worst problem one of my flights had was smoke in the cabin.

We were taking off from DTW in the end of December a few years back and we were stuck at the terminal for a while due to a backed up takeoff queue. Just as we were pushing back, maintenance figured they ought to deice the plane, so we pulled back into the terminal and they hosed off the wings.

As we take off, smoke starts coming into the cabin. Very quickly, the entire cabin was filled with "smoke" and people are screaming and coughing all around. The smoke was more like fog from a fog machine, not smoke caused by burning wood or coal. The entire passenger cabin goes into a panic as the fog got so thick that it was hard to see a few feet ahead.

The pilot asks everyone to relax, the problem is under control and we're returning to the airport. We land a few minutes later. The woman next to me is crying and coughing. Everyone deplanes and after another hour the PA announces that apparently some deicing chemical had found its way into the A/C system.

dj_spanmaster: Shut down an engine on the 717 and still landed it safely? Needs a [img1.fark.net image 54x11]

Not quite. That's a pretty routine move, the plane is designed to handle that situation and pilots train for it.

Another AirTran plane was sent from Atlanta and carried the diverted passengers there, Hawkins said.

After a how many day wait?

717?
Checks wiki..ahhh, it's an MD frame.
Didn't realize they had a merger.

Hahahaha cause Drew drinks beer! Get it!? He's so unique!

Darn thing was filled with junk food, there's your problem

By any chance, was this on the Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company (new window- jump to about 2:34)?