In 1986, a soviet Aeroflot pilot tried to land the plane blindly with all the windows curtained due to a bet with the co-pilot. He crashed and killed 70 of the 94 passengers on board.
100 Mind-Blowing Passengers Facts
A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing 3,901 bridges. Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but it’s also the longest one in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.
The first commercial passenger flight lasted only 23 minutes. In 1914, Abram Pheil paid $400 (which would be $8,500 today) for a 23-minute plane ride. The Florida flight flew between Saint Petersburg and Tampa, where only 21 miles of water separated the cities. Pheil, a former mayor of Saint Petersburg, and the pilot, Tony Jannus, were the only passengers. This momentous flight paved the way for air travel as we know it.
The Titanic included dogs as their passengers. When the ship sank in 1912, 3 dogs were able to survive. Before the ship sank, they had all been travelling with their owners in first-class cabins.
San Francisco’s cable cars are counted as a national monument. They are also the only monuments that can move. They are also able to carry passengers along its tracks.
There’s a hilarious continuity error in the opening scene of Sex and The City. If you look closely, you’ll notice how in one shot, the bus that splashes Carrie is full of passengers. However, in the next frame, the same bus appears empty. One of the funny facts that’ll make you realize the devil is in the details.
A rollercoaster can make you pass kidney stones. After many reports of passing a kidney stone on Disney World’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride, a team from Michigan State University decided to investigate whether it was coincidental or not. They found that there was a 64% kidney stone pass rate for passengers in the rear of the Thunder Mountain ride. However, it was just 16% for passengers in the front.
Do you know animals are frequent passengers on rocket ships? The first living creature in space was a dog named Laika.
Airplane food might not be that bad. During flights, elevation causes dryness and reduces sensitivity. This fact limits the amount passengers can taste while flying.
In Japan, when a train leaves the station at the wrong time, the rail company apologizes. Back in 2018, a train in Japan left the station a full 25 seconds early, which probably sounds like nothing out of the ordinary to most people worldwide. The train operator admitted his mistake, exclaiming, “The great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable.” Japanese trains are known for their punctuality, so there were a few passengers who missed their train that day!
London Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the UK. It witnessed 48.2 million passengers from January to August 2013.
Busy Hub: Heathrow Airport in London is the UK’s busiest airport, with over 78 million passengers in 2017.
US Airports Make Big Money from Loose Change: According to the Department of Homeland Security, airline passengers leave behind thousands of dollars in coins each year at U.S. airport screening checkpoints. In the most recent year studied, the Transportation Security Administration collected $517,978.74 in unclaimed money (mostly coins) from passengers who emptied their pockets while going through the security line. These funds get deposited into a special fund so that collection and spending can be easily tracked. After some time, this money is used for civilian airport security expenses.