Thousands of flights fly in and out from airports. They are one of the busiest places in the world. Traveling is inevitable and so are the unexpected issues that lead to unscheduled landings. Ever came across crazy emergency landing stories? Here are 10 emergency landing stories that will surprise you. You’ll realize that sophisticated procedures and travel are not that sophisticated after all.

1 A plane makes an emergency landing after a dog bites two people onboard. The flight headed to Phoenix had to land midway as the dog owner let it out from its carrier and it bit a fellow passenger and a flight attendant. US airlines allow pets if they are carried in a carrier and kept under the seat during the travel.  

The severity of the bite was not disclosed. The pilot later told the media that he wanted to make sure that everybody was okay in his flight.

Carrying pets is allowed in almost all airlines if the pet owner abides by some strict rules such as keeping it in such a way that it does not trouble other passengers. The dog was accompanying an elderly New Jersey resident.

It was a 12-pound Manchester terrier named Mandy. The dog was in the approved carrier from Newark. The 89-year-old passenger was part of 122 passengers and five crew members.

The dog broke out of its cage and threatened to bite a person who tried to calm it down. According to the rule, the carrier should be kept under the seat in a sealed position. The woman boarded a different flight from Pittsburgh to Phoenix with her dog. (Source)

2 An emergency landing was made after an agitated passenger, a cat, got into the cockpit and attacked the co-pilot. The flight was from the Belgian capital to Vienna. Even though it is not clear how the cat got loose and reached the cockpit when food was being served to the two-man flight crew. The pilot returned to Brussels and there was a two-hour delay.

How the cat escaped the cage is unknown to anyone. It, once free, proceeded to the cabin where pilots were being served their meals. The cat eventually got agitated and scratched the co-pilot on his arm.

The pilot returned to Brussels to make sure everyone was okay and started the flight again in two hours. The cat was checked-in in a transport bag when in Oslo. They later confirmed that no compromise happened that was the fault of the passengers.

There are several similar instances around the same time with other airlines. The cat in an Air Canada flight once bolted off to the cockpit, and the crew didn’t realize where it was for almost twenty minutes.

To calm the cat, the engine was turned off and they began calling its name. It was caught in the cockpit avionics, and they had to take the cat out by disassembling it. (Source)

3 Snakes on a plane from Cairo to Kuwait led to an emergency landing. Some incidents like these are stranger than fiction. A reptile shop owner smuggled a cobra in his carry-on. The snake escaped and caused the emergency landing. 

A flight journey took an unexpected turn when a Jordanian man got bit by a snake he was smuggling. A ninety-passenger flight was forced to land in Al Ghardaqa near the Red Sea.

The 48-year-old passenger who got bit owned a reptile shop in Kuwait. After biting the smuggler, the snake escaped and was slithering under sheets. The man refused medical treatment and the snake was confiscated. 

It was an Egyptian cobra, a species well known for the venom that can kill a person in fifteen minutes, and it would take just three hours for the venom to kill a full-grown elephant. (Source)

4 French actor Gerard Depardieu was denied the use of the toilets because the seat belt signs were lit. He proceeded to pee in a bottle which overflowed and created a bio-hazard so the plane had to finally turn back and kick the actor out.

The actor boasts of drinking bottles of wine every day. He was ordered out of the airplane after urinating in the aisle. The plane was about to take off from Paris to Dublin.

The crew said that the plane was taxiing and he could have waited for the airplane to take off so that the seat belt sign was off and he could move. But he decided to get up, unzip his fly and relieve himself in the middle of the taxing when the crew told him he could not use the toilet at that point. 

The stewardess informed the co-pilot and pilot that a man was standing up and causing safety issues. As a result, the actor was asked to get off the plane along with his companions. The plane then took off two hours later. (Source)

5 A drunk passenger flying from Tenerife to Manchester was arrested as he was headbutting the flight attendant and proceeded to hug her. He also refused to comply with the coronavirus mask policy. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, most airports weren’t operational, so the pilot had to land 25 minutes prior to the landing time in Manchester to resolve the issue. 

“I’m going to smash your head in!” the drunk passenger shouted when he was out of control. He made a fascist salute and headbutted the crew when asked to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.

This 25-year-old passenger brought chaos to the plane. He mocked an Italian air host multiple times with a Mussolini salute that brought out the fascist nature of the passenger. Even after multiple requests, he refused to wear a mask and adhere to the pandemic rules. He used cuss words against a female crew and threatened to smash her head in. 

The passenger headbutted her, stroked her arm, and proceeded to hug her. He was arrested on landing at the Manchester Airport and was jailed for 14 months. The situation during the flight made the pilot accelerate and reach the destination 25 minutes prior to the landing time. The police took him. He banged his head on the floor and even spat on the vehicle when he was being taken away. (Source)