An airline pilot has issued a stark warning to passengers about the dangers of storing personal items in the back pocket of plane seats. Captain Steve Scheibner, an American Airlines pilot who is popularly known as Captain Steeeve among his YouTube followers, revealed this crucial travel tip in a recent video. He frequently encounters passengers at the agent’s counter who have used the back pocket during their flight, resulting in a “fingers crossed” moment due to the “diminishing” odds of retrieving their belongings.
The seasoned pilot referred to the pocket as the “black hole of despair”, cautioning travellers against placing anything valuable in it unless they are prepared to lose it forever. He advised: “Stop putting personal items in the seat back pocket in front of you. If you want to lose it and never see it again, put it in that dark hole that is the seat back pocket in front of you.”
Steve recounted numerous instances where passengers had disembarked from the plane, leaving personal items in the seat pocket, and were unable to return to the aircraft to retrieve them.
He further said: “If the airplane is still at the gate, fingers crossed that somebody who cares can go out there and find the thing that you left in that seat back pocket.
“But the odds are diminishing with every minute that ticks by after you leave that seat and you leave it in that black hole of despair. So, my friends, do not put your personal items in that seat back pocket, unless of course, you don’t ever want to see it again.”
Steve also revealed the most stunning sight he’s ever witnessed from the cockpit – in a “breathtakingly gorgeous” UK territory.
Describing it as “so easy” to choose one memory, he recalled an unforgettable experience during his Navy service when he was flying near a “gorgeous” area and noticed a “bunch of dolphins” beneath him.
He said: “We were flying out of Gibraltar in… No, Gibraltar is not in Spain, so I don’t want to hear about it in the comments.
“I know it belongs to the UK, but it’s at the bottom of Spain is where Gibraltar is located, and it’s an absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous place.”