Pilots from across the world have come
forward to give straight answers about maddening safety rules, inexplicable
delays, the air and attitudes up there, and what really happens behind the
cockpit door. What they revealed will change the way you fly!
“I’ve been struck by lightning twice”
Most pilots have. Airplanes are built to
take it. You hear a big boom and see a big flash and that's it. You're not
going to fall out of the sky.
“You may not be getting the
airline you paid for”
You may go to an airline website and buy a
ticket, pull up to its desk at the curb, and get onto an airplane that has a
similar name painted on it, but half the time, you're really on a regional
airline. The regionals aren't held to the same safety standards as the majors:
Their pilots aren't required to have as much training and experience, and the
public doesn't know that.
“If you’re a nervous flier, book a morning flight”
The heating of the ground later causes
bumpier air, and it's much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon.
“The smoothest place to sit is often over or near the
wing”
The bumpiest place to sit is in the back. A
plane is like a seesaw. If you're in the middle, you don't move as much. The
general flow of air in any airplane is from front to back. So if you're really
concerned about breathing the freshest possible air or not getting too hot, sit
as close to the front as you can. Planes are generally warmest in the back. There is no safest place to sit. In one
accident, the people in the back are dead; in the next, it's the people up
front.
“People don’t understand why they can’t use their cell
phones”
Well, what can happen is 12 people will
decide to call someone just before landing, and I can get a false reading on my
instruments saying that we are higher than we really are. We don't make
you stow your laptop because we're worried about electronic interference. It's
about having a projectile on your lap. I don't know about you, but I don't want
to get hit in the head by a MacBook going 200 miles per hour. And we're not
trying to ruin your fun by making you take off your headphones. We just want
you to be able to hear us if there's an emergency.
“It's updrafts, not turbulence, we really worry about.”
A plane flies into a massive updraft, which
you can't see on the radar at night, and it's like hitting a giant speed bump
at 500 miles an hour. It throws everything up in the air and then down very
violently. That's not the same as turbulence, which bounces everyone around for
a while.
“You'll never hear, "One of our engines just
failed."
What they'll say instead: "One of our
engines is indicating improperly." (Or more likely, they'll say nothing,
and you'll never know the difference. Most planes fly fine with one engine
down.)
“There's no such thing as a water landing.”
It's called crashing into the ocean.
“It's one thing if the pilot puts the seat belt sign
on for the passengers …”
But if he tells the flight attendants to
sit down, you'd better listen. That means there's some serious turbulence
ahead.
“There's a good reason for everything we ask you to
do.”
We ask you to put up the window shade so
the flight attendants can see outside in an emergency, to assess if one side is
better for an evacuation. It also lets light into the cabin if it goes dark and
helps passengers get oriented if the plane flips or rolls over.
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