Bizarre footage has left social media users baffled after it shows a spanking ritual that pilots go through when they finish their training.
Yep, you read that right. The strange practice reportedly happens in Colombia, although there are other places where the tradition is also carried out.
The clips, which can viewed here, surfaced online and show new pilots bending over before getting a smack on the butt with a wooden paddle.
The ritual is done by both men and women who become newly qualified pilots, although it’s not exactly clear where it originates from… or why!
Shocked viewers of the footage took to social media to share their thoughts, one user writing on X, formerly Twitter: “I think they training for the wrong thing lol.”
Another person added on Reddit: “This seems….different.”
However, not everyone was shocked, as another Reddit user, who said to be a member of the Gliding Flight Club in Hungary, explained: “We had a very similar thing when someone flew alone for their first time or obtained a specific aircraft licence.
“But we received/gave it with hands, not paddles. Another interesting thing to add here is that not only our primary instructor did this to us, but also those pilots who were there on the day and had already passed that ‘level’ or licence.
.webp)
.webp)
It’s unclear where the tradition started (Reddit/u/highlemonsss)
“So if you were ‘unlucky’, you potentially had 15 other people slapping your bum [one] after another (some gentle, some not so much)…..”
Other pilots shared their experience with spanking on the Professional Pilots Rumor Network forum, where they addressed certain traditions.
One pilot wrote: “When I first soloed in a glider … it was common practise to get a spanking from your instuctor [sic] – as a compensation for making him suffer by having to watch your flying.
“This was followed in the evening by a mass spanking from all pilots and non-pilots in the clubhouse, the purpose of which was to improve your ‘seat of the pants flying skills’ by giving you a feel for thermals.”
Another agreed, writing: “I saw something similar at a gliding club I flew at in Germany (mid 90’s). After the first solo the pilot was spanked by everyone, but only after the instructor had poured cold water down the back of his pants.”
Though the tradition probably isn’t one that would start nowadays, other viewers online have been more accepting of the practice, with one noting: “I think if everyone was consenting adults it doesn’t matter what I think.”
Featured Image Credit: Reddit/u/highlemonsss
The most ‘heinous, evil, diabolical’ things you can do on a plane revealed by flight attendant
These don’t make being a flight attendant sound like much fun.
We all know from experience that it doesn’t take much to make a long flight much, much more uncomfortable – people always seem to behave their worst when they step into the confined space of an airplane.
Well, if you’ve ever wondered about a league table of the worst things you can possibly to do make a flight miserable, the answers are all here – a TikTok user called Cher (@cherdallas), who just so happens to be a flight attendant, has detailed all the worst things people do on flights.
She opens up with a simple one – putting bottles of liquid in the overhead lockers. This can be tempting if you’ve filled up a bottle after going through security, but she says that “every single time, without fail” that water bottle ends up leaking all over the bin.
This doesn’t just soak the other bags in the locker, but also generally travels in a stream to trickle out through a crack and “soak one person” underneath, which would absolutely kill your vibe.
Next, Cher talks about people who choose to get their flights even though they’re feeling nauseous or sick – this often means that “as soon as we hit altitude they feel so much worse and they’re vomiting uncontrollably”.
That’s a pretty bleak picture – and we have to agree with Cher, knowing you’re sick before a flight and still getting on the plane is a very different thing to experiencing motion sickness when you’re in the air.
The third and final thing that Cher brings up in her list of evil decisions is going to the bathroom during turbulence, specifically if you’re going to pee standing up.
It’s a common complaint that people’s aim can be sketchy, but if the plane is bumping around a lot that becomes even more challenging, which can often leave the plane’s bathrooms covered in pee.
As Cher puts it, this makes these bathrooms’ floors without doubt “the most disgusting thing on the plane”.
It’s a pretty comprehensive trio of objections that she lays out, and people in the comments under the video agree with them all – one person called it “another exquisite rant”.
SENEZ / Getty
Plenty of others are swapping stories of their bad experiences on planes, too, but there’s also one common thread of objections.
People are annoyed that if you’re sick before a flight, even if you have a doctor’s note to prove it, you’re not entitled to any refund or rescheduling – which means that you’re incentivized to just get the flight anyway, despite potentially knowing it’s not ideal for anyone.
That’s a problem without a solution right now, but it’s led some commenters so say that it “is 100% on the airline. If I lose the entire value of my ticket when I am sick I am going to fly regardless”.
