My "fun" experiences.
On approach to Ontario, CA the engines rev way up and we go into a steep climb. I was listening to ATC on channel 9 and heard the pilot say they had a TCAS alert. ATC repplied they didn't show anything near us.
Leaving ORD this past Christmas week. The take off seemed OK for the first minute then heard a loud mechanical noise and I swear the plane nosed back over, as in going down. My stomach went up in my throat(Catman I admire your calmness); then we are heading back up again. At the end of the flight the passenger across from me looked at me and said "I didn't like that takeoff at all." Me neither!
Matt Wald:I like you really appreciate the ATC channel on UA but on some flights (seems like mostly the 727s) it isn't available. I think it is more a comfort thing in being able to hear what is going on.

Never had an aborted takeoff, but there have
been a couple aborted landings.
I posted about my most recent one here earlier in the UA section and on reflection,
it certainly was one of the most scary.

Nothing quite like being the flight that makes the guys in the tower go "You know, maybe NOW would be a good time to stop VFR approaches" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And what's up with approaches to SYD?
I've made it okay, but I remember hearing about the UA morning arrival(863) running into severe, service-cart-tossing,ambulance-showing-up-@-the-tarmac type of turbulence a couple times now and always thought "wow!, that could have been me!"

SFO->DIA over New Year's '97 is another similar turbulence story, only I was ON that one!. There really is nothing quite like seeing one of those carts actually get airborne for a second, esp. when it's all laden down w/ breakfast.
I've never thought to ask for extra miles after an experience like that. I've always just been glad to be on the ground.

JD

Not much interesting in my few flights... just a pilot forgetting to turn on the auxiliary thrusters... but my father tells me he once saw a plane getting ready to take off when the wheels literally fell off...

My experience over the years supports the idea that flying is absolutely the safest way to fly.
Start in 195? CIA flies a contract airline called "Civil Air Transport - CAT" taking military personnel between Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, and Honshu, where most of their families live. On a regularly scheduled flight to Hokkaido (we're on a C-46 - commercial designation DC-3, which is the 1950's version of the DC-9, but two propellors, instead of jets). Ten minutes out of Chitose, on Hokkaido (it's a 2-hour flight), there's a little "bang" outside. Pilot comes back (there's no PA system) and yells: "We've lost a magneto and now only have one engine. They have repair parts at Misawa, and I have a date there tonight. We're going back on one engine. Relax. I can start the other one before we land." We did, and he did. We landed safely at Misawa and got back to Hokkaido later.
Another one from the same era: Our CAT flight lands at Chitose and blows a tire, spins 360 degrees and miraculously ends up going the right way on the runway. We limp to the ramp and disembark normally (although all pretty much shaken). The pilot goes up to the Airman at the counter and says, "I've got a flat tire out ther and I'm supposed to take off in 45 minutes. Can you fix it in time?"
More modern: Takeoff from SFO in an L-1011. I'm sitting on the left in the cattle-car. Just as we leave the runway there's a big burst of flame from the left wing engine. No change in flight attitude or anything else. We just keep climbing. After a couplke of seconds, the pilot comes on: "Those of you sitting on the left side of the aircraft may have noticed what appeared to be a backfire. In fact, the engine exploded. We're not in any danger, but we're going back to land again in San Francisco, and I think it's safe to say that this airplane is not going anywhere today." We did go back, the turn-around and landing were as normal as couold be, and this experience is one of the reasons the L-1011 is my favorite aircraft.

I'll label this OMNI because it doesn't really have to do with flying.
Don't remember where I was coming from, but we landed at ATL and got to the gate. The driver of the jetway hit the side of the plane so hard that everyone standing in the aisles was jostled, and one flight attendant was knocked off her feet and injured. When things were finally sorted out, the plane had a hole in the side and wasn't going to fly any more that day. The pilot came out of the cabin and said something like, "I fly this thing 10,000 miles and x-number of hours, and I get whacked by a woman driver."
(I would not normally pass that on, but the jetway operator WAS a woman.)

I have only had this happen twice but it was at either end of the same return journey!

Inbound to EWR and I swear we were only inches from the ground (that's what it felt like anyway) when the 747 (BA) just pulled up with absolutely awesome power and flew around for a second try. You really don't appreciate the power of these aircraft until you feel something like that!

Amazingly, going back to LHR exactly the same thing happened again (although it wasn't quite inches from the ground this time).

Hasn't happened since, luckily.