This week’s Icarus Award has the top 10 civilian travel fails of the year. Vote for the worst of the worst and check back next week to see the top 5 contenders for our 2011 Icarus Award.

Heart-Attack Sandwich
On an August flight from the UK to Sweden, a 63-year-old passenger suffered from a cardiac episode. In response, the Ryanair crew offered him a sandwich and a soda, claiming that the situation was caused by low blood sugar. Then they returned to charge him for the sandwich and soda. To add insult to injury, after making an emergency landing for the sick passenger, an ambulance was not waiting and he had to be driven to the nearest hospital.

Too Close for Comfort
Fliers are conditioned to expect uncomfortable travel experiences, but Arthur Berkowitz’s U.S. Airways flight from Anchorage to Philadelphia breaks the mold. Berkowitz, a Philadelphia business man, was seated next to a morbidly obese passenger, who was not asked to purchase two seats and instead raised the armrests in his row of seats, spilling over into both seat mates’ space. Given that his seat was a tight squeeze, Berkowitz spent the majority of his 7-hour flight walking the cabin.

Cellular Rage
A Southwest passenger unable to wait to use his cell phone ended up in jail after he refused to turn off the device. According to an airline spokesperson, the passenger turned his cell phone on as the flight was landing and refused to turn it off. Then, when the plane pulled up the gate, authorities met the aircraft and arrested the passenger.

A Not-So-Virgin Flyer
British citizen Katherine Goldberg got a little cheeky as she flew from South Africa to London this past August. A Northwest London court alleges that Goldberg sexually assaulted one of the male crew members by demanding to have sex with him and grabbing his penis and crotch area.

Armrest Wrestling
David Alan Anderson, a 60-year-old resident of Salt Lake City, threatened his seatmate by using his elbow to claim the armrest. He subsequently put his foot on his seatmate’s leg. After his seatmate complained, Anderson then said, “If I had a knife, I would slit your throat.” After repeated threats, officers responded to the scene and did indeed find a knife in Anderson’s bag. Anderson was then arrested but remained irate, threatening police and the FBI with choice comments like “I’ll pull your eyeballs out,” and “It will give me a lot of pleasure to see you again, but you won’t see me, bucko.”

Bathroom in a Bag
The Dutch national railway has come up with a rather peculiar solution for their train lines that are not equipped with bathrooms: plastic bags. Politicians and the public are not happy about the “Sprinter” trains’ bathroom-less design, and the plastic bag program has done nothing to change public opinion. It is worth noting that the bags are for emergency use only and kept out of sight in the conductor’s booth. No word about where on the train passengers are supposed to use the bag.

The Parachute High Club

image credit Big Stock

Porn actor and skydiver Alex Torres was under investigation by the FAA after shooting an amateur porn video of himself having sex with Hope Howell, the receptionist at Skydive Taft School. Set to the tune of Katy Perry’s “E.T,” the film depicted the couple having relations aboard the plane, and as they jumped out of the aircraft and fell toward the ground. In a glorious climax, the two landed without incident only to find out they had violated federal regulations by having sex on a plane and potentially distracting the pilot.

No Mask for You 
Remember Frontier Flight 787, where an issue with the plane’s computer caused a problem in air pressurization. Oxygen masks were deployed automatically, however several masks failed to drop and others were not working properly. A Frontier spokesperson has said that all the masks did drop and function property, but passengers are releasing statements and videos to contradict the airline’s claim.

One Fee Too Many
Teri Weissinger spent 8days stranded at San Francisco International Airport after she was unable to pay a $60 fee. Weissinger missed her flight and was trapped in the airport until the Airport Church of Christ paid $210 for her transportation fees.

Pay Up or Get Off the Plane
Austrian-based Comtel Air made no friends when it went broke in the middle of a flight. While most flights were canceled, a plane already bound from India to England made a refueling stop in Vienna and asked passengers to chip in or get off. The plane sat on the runway for 6 hours in a standoff between passengers and crew. Officials were called in to escort the livid travelers off the aircraft…and over to an ATM where they could withdraw enough money to cover the fuel costs, which totaled roughly $31,500.

Words with Frenemies won last week’s Icarus Award. Check out past winners in our Icarus Award section. And vote here for this week’s most worthy contender:

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By Lily J. Kosner for Peter Greenberg.com