Posted on 12/07/2023 3:57:00 PM PST by algore
Picture this: you’re nestled comfortably in your seat cruising towards your travel destination when a flight attendant’s voice breaks through the silence:
“Ladies and gentlemen, both pilots are incapacitated. Are there any passengers who could land this plane with assistance from air traffic control?”
If you think you could manage it, you’re not alone. Survey results published in January indicate about one-third of adult Americans think they could safely land a passenger aircraft with air traffic control’s guidance. Among male respondents, the confidence level rose to nearly 50%.
Can a person with no prior training simply guide everyone to a smooth touchdown?
We’ve all heard stories of passengers who saved the day when the pilot became unresponsive.
For instance, last year Darren Harrison managed to land a twin-engine aircraft in Florida – after the pilot passed out – with the guidance of an air traffic controller who also happened to be a flight instructor.
However, such incidents tend to take place in small, simple aircraft. Flying a much bigger and heavier commercial jet is a completely different game.
Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power and adjust the rate of descent – ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway.
On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes.
Both takeoff and landing are far too quick, technical and concentration-intensive for an untrained person to pull off. They also require a range of skills that are only gained through extensive training, such as understanding the information presented on different gauges, and being able to coordinate one’s hands and feet in a certain way.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Modern aircraft can just about land themselves, so yes, one could.
Just get it safely stopped and evacuate.
Anybody can land an airplane. The issue is can they do it safely.
I could. Piece of cake. Now, a landing you can walk away from, that’s another matter...
If you can stick a general aviation plane on the numbers in MS Flight Sim then you’d almost certainly walk away from the real thing in the same simulated plane, location, weather, and time of day. Your radio communication skills would suck and you’d piss off everyone else at the airport and may sht yourself and get your azz kicked...but you’d probably walk away...in hand cuffs.
There were some questions about which movie I was referring to.
It was a movie called Airplane!
If the options presented are that I give it a shot or just kiss my ass goodbye, you bet I’ll get behind the wheel.
You don’t have to learn how to land a commercial plane. Just ask the 9/11 terrorists.
Oh, that’s right...they can’t tell you.
Was it a gladiator movie?
Sounds like a great premise for a reality show. Especially if you force the producer to ride as a passenger.
If the tower is telling you how to do it I guess I could give it a shot.
This all happens within just a few minutes.
Units problem.
Whatever
I could still do it
I watched a video of someone landing a 777
Lots of stuff
That being said, Category III was decades ago
Gotta be pretty amazing stuff these days
I could perform brain surgery. If I had to. Not sure it would work out though.
Don’t eat the fish.
Rumack : Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Ted Striker : Surely you can’t be serious.
Rumack : I am serious... and don’t call me Shirley.
It’s a different kind of flying!!
Altogether!!!
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