Weird and wonderful: People online shared the most unforgettable experiences they ever had on an airplane

I remember reading about this pilot who wrote to Reader's Digest about mothers who entered the massive plane and looked for playrooms for their children, fully confident that there would be one for their kids on long flights.

"I have to break the news to them", he writes, weaving some humour about tired parents and their kids on flights.

In light of the numerous travel restrictions put in place, we're feeling almost nostalgic about getting into a plane and flying to a new place and for the cute, sweet stories that happen in between, like the one above.

We thought we'd like you to reminisce on your memories on air, so to jolt your memories, we scour the web for the head-scratching, smile-inducing, most unforgettable stories of their experience on an airplane.

Cowboy conversation

"I was seated next to a guy in a cowboy hat one time who only spoke Spanish (I believe). He had a conversation with me the entire flight, breaking down in tears at one point, and all I did was look at him and nod occasionally. At the end of the flight, he shook my hand and gave me the cowboy hat."

vSity - Reddit

Pilot for the day

"Mine was when I was 10 years old. My parents divorced when I was very young, and my dad moved to another city when I was 8. Every year my dad would fly me down to visit for a few weeks in the summer, and that was the only time I got to see him.

"My dad and I were waiting at the gate for me to board the plane to go home to my mom. When they called for boarding, I started to cry. I had to do this every year, and every year, it tore me apart. I walked down the jet way, sobbing as I got to my seat.

"Not two minutes later did a flight attendant come up to my seat and inform me that the captain had invited me to sit in the cockpit. They took me to the front of the plane and introduced me to the pilot and copilot. Behind the door to the cockpit there was a fold down seat on which I got to sit for the whole flight. They even gave me a headset to wear so I could listen to the air traffic controllers. The flight attendant brought me snacks and juice, and the pilots talked to me about everything they were doing.

"After the plane landed, before I got off the plane, they gave me a set of pilot wings. I was still upset about my dad, but the crew from that flight was able to help me forget about it. I will never forget the kindness and compassion they showed me that day."

canso - Reddit

The best seat in the entire plane

"A flight in the front seat of a single engine plane during a meteor shower."

shenuhcide - Reddit

Christmas light

"I befriended the older woman next to me, and our conversation was one I'll never forget. We asked each other standard questions, like what college I go to and what college her daughter goes to. The flight we were on was close to Christmas, and I was flying home for winter break.

"I hadn't seen my family since they hugged me goodbye on move-in day in August. I told her about how my dad told me to look for all the Christmas lights up on the houses as we were close to landing. A few hours later we began our descent, and I had forgotten our previous conversation. With my forehead pressed into the window, I was intent on seeing these lights.

"After a few minutes of that, I hear from next to me, "Do you see the Christmas lights yet?" I started tearing up, and I turned to her and shook my head. She nudged me and said, "Keep looking!" Eventually I saw them (they were beautiful) and told her. It really touched me that a complete stranger would remember how excited I was about something like that, and ask me about it after we had stopped talking."

shinytoyguns617 - Reddit

Killer view

"I was on a flight from Nepalgunj to Jumla in Nepal with an airline called Yeti Air. Their airsick bags had little stick figure illustrations, and the lady stick figure had a sari on. It was this tiny 16-seater plane where you could see all the way in to the cockpit. I just about had a heart attack when, mid-flight, the co-pilot rolled down his window.

"While visions of action movie sequences where people get sucked out of the plane flashed through my head, the co-pilot calmly used the breeze to sweep back and fix his hair before rolling the widow back up. I guess in unpressurised propeller planes, you can roll down the windows with no ill-effects."

Sir_Catrick_Stewart - Reddit

Strangers who watch together laugh together

"I watched Tropic Thunder for the first time and laughed so hard that the sleeping man next to me woke up. He decided to watch the movie and I started mine over so that we could laugh together."

Leemegan9 - Reddit

Blackmail

"My mom was a flight attendant for over 20 years. She saw Nadia Comaneci's name on the flight manifest once, so she went and talked to her and told her she wouldn't tell a soul - as long as she got an autograph. So basically, my mom subtly blackmailed a famous Olympic gymnast. I still have that autograph somewhere."

Security hijinks

"My mother once accidentally knocked down a security guard in a Spanish Airport. She passed through the metal detector and it beeped, and because it always happens to her she was prepared for it so immediately threw her arms up so that they could search her. One of her arms caught the security guard in the face and she went down.

"It was one of the funniest moments ever upon reflection but at the time everything went crazy."

AShawy- Reddit

Mid-air baptism

"I was on a flight to Ireland sitting next to my mum and my sister. Her husband and their daughter were sitting behind us. My mum is a very nervous flyer and she always brings some holy water when she flies. Before take-off, she blessed herself with it and then was passing it to me when she spilt some on to my trousers - you could say she baptised me again.

"My sister asked what had happened and when we told her, my niece, who is such a lovely little girl when she's not talking, said in her loudest voice: "Uncle Michael has wet himself". Of course, my so-called loving family thought it was hilarious and, in time, so did I."

Mick67 - Tripadvisor

Smartass pilot

"On a flight once, I heard my pilot interrupt the cabin crew as they were doing the safety demo. He made Darth Vader breathing sounds right at the part where they inform passengers about oxygen masks. Half the flight cracked up!"

Welshgirlie2 - Reddit

Good luck!

"Flying to the US (from England) on May of 2000, I was seated next to a family who were going to Disney for the first time - nice family, hope they had fun. They asked me why I was going, I told them to propose to my girlfriend. I guess word got around the plane because as I was disembarking I got a round of applause and many "good lucks" and handshakes from all the other passengers and crew. Absolutely brilliant!

"She said "Yes" and we've been married for 12 years now ?"

zerbey - Reddit

This article was first published in Wego.