Most travelers expect they've done their bit after confirming their payment details and clicking on "Book ticket."

But in a bizarre incident on Tuesday, passengers in Russia's Siberia were reportedly asked to disembark and help their own plane along the runway, in temperatures hovering around minus 50 degrees C.

Within hours, pictures and videos of passengers dressed in thick coats pushing against the wings of the plane hit social media.

It wasn't long before the outlandish images became a meme, with creative minds imagining the many scenarios in which a bunch of stoic Russians might come in handy — whether in our galaxy or outside it.

1. You've just buckled up for a two-hour flight to Krasnodar when news filters through that the airport's towing vehicle has iced up and the plane is stranded off the runway. (Alright … this one's real!)

2. Your name is Vladimir Putin and you're dreading the upcoming G20 summit in Brisbane. So why not have Russian "volunteers" delay your flight by giving you some technical problems ...

3. Your name is Barack Obama, you're cruising at 30,000 feet aboard the presidential Air Force One, and all seems to be going smoothly until … (The caption reads: "Mr. President, it seems like there are some Russians out there!")

4. A meteor is hurtling toward a Russian city and is about to explode over Siberia's Chelyabinsk, only in this version of events …

5. An international crew is preparing to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a six-month stint aboard the ISS. The world is watching, and you can't afford a Proton-M type launch fail.

6. You've successfully launched your Soyuz rocket but if you thought you were safe — think again. A giant tidal wave has emerged out of nowhere and is about to foil your plan to save mankind!

7. Having escaped the tidal wave at a near miss, an evil Matt Damon wakes up from an induced coma and is about to condemn you to a life on the other side of a wormhole unless...

8. A giant cat is in desperate need of scratching. Not exactly an emergency but still cute!