It happens a lot more than people think.

If your company has 20,000 employees and it's routine for many of them to fly, then the odds are that something bad will happen eventually.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/tesla-employees-identif...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/connecticut-pla...

Below are some unusual airplane incidents, I'm sure there are many more than are on this list. The point is that everyone would say the below things would NEVER happen on an airplane, yet, they happened.

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/unusual.htm

Some highlights:

"A passenger brought aboard a crocodile hidden in a sports bag. The crocodile escaped, causing a panic among passengers who all rushed to one end of the plane. This caused an imbalance in the aircraft which led to loss of control and a crash."

"A stray bullet from training soldiers struck the landing plane, hitting an oxygen cylinder. A fire broke out and control of the plane was lost and it crashed."

"The aircraft was hijacked shortly after taking off from Ethiopia by three drunken escaped prisoners. They demanded to be flown to Australia, but wouldn't let the pilot stop to refuel. The plane eventually ran out of fuel and ditched 500 feet offshore killing 127 of 157 aboard."

"A passenger's cigarette caused a fire in the cabin which led to an oxygen tank exploding. The plane crashed killing 25 of 69 aboard."

"Two passengers were sucked out of the plane after a tire exploded in the wheel well causing damage to the fuselage."

"Out of boredom, the captain and flight engineer decided to experiment and see what would happen to the autothrottle system if the circuit breakers which supplied power to the instruments which measured the rotational speed of each engine's low pressure compressor were tripped. This led to engine overspeeding and destruction of the engine. Pieces struck the fuselage, breaking a window, causing rapid explosive decompression and a passenger was sucked out of the plane. The plane landed safely."

"An unrestrained German Shepard interfered with flight controls and caused the plane to crash."

"Without authorization, the pilot taxied half-way down the runway to try and clear fog. Braking done during the fog clearing overheated the brakes. Soon after takeoff, the overheated brakes caused a tire to burst which damaged a fuel line and started a fire. The plane crashed shortly after killing all 80 people aboard."

These below happened like 50+ years ago.

"A U.S. Army Air Force B-25 crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in fog, killing 3 aboard and 11 on the ground."

"Carbon dioxide extinguishers were discharged in response to a fire warning in the cargo hold. The plane's nose was lowered for an emergency descent and due to a design flaw, carbon dioxide entered the cockpit and rendered the crew unconscious after which the plane crashed killing all 43 aboard. "

"The DC-3 disintegrated in flight outside of Quebec killing all 23 aboard.. A dynamite bomb was planted in the forward baggage compartment by Albert Guay, a jeweler, in a plot to kill his wife who was a passenger on the plane. Guay, who assembled the bomb, had his accomplice, Marguerite Pitre air expressed the bomb on the aircraft. Ms. Pitre's brother, a clockmaker, helped make the timing mechanism. The insurance policy was for 10,000 dollars. All three were hanged for their crimes. "

"The plane landed in Pacific Ocean, 2.5 mile short of the runway in the shallow waters of San Francisco Bay. All 107 people aboard were safely evacuated off the plane. The aircraft was recovered from the San Francisco Bay 55 hours after the accident, repaired and eventually flew back home to Japan and was in service for many decades."

"The aircraft crashed killing 61 of 82 aboard after colliding with a balloon."