Did you know airplanes have automated messages that notify passengers when they are falling into the sea? A British Airways flight recently told passengers, "We're about to crash," prompting widespread panic. Then the flight attendants were like, "Psyche!"

The plane in question was flying over the North Sea, en route from London to Hong Kong. "I can't think of anything worse than being told your plane's about to crash," said one passenger. Really? I can think of two:

  • 1. Actually crashing
  • 2. Having the last thing you hear before you die be an eerie automated message. (Hell is a neverending maze of automated phone messages, when all you have is a rotary telephone?)

After the erroneous announcement, the flight attendants went around reassuring the passengers on that flight that did not crash that they were not, in fact, about to die. I imagine the reactions vascillated between tears of joy and screams of rage. British Airways has since apologized. [Reuters via Upshot, image via AP]