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 ...
Flight now landing
Gate 2 … gate 3… gate 10 … gate 11 … gate 27 … gate 28
To your point: https://www.flightdeckfriend.com/ask-a-pilot/can-a-plane-land-automatically
I’ve spent enough hours in flight simulators to land one. The trick is to level off at zero throttle and reach stall speed just above the ground, and let the plane drop onto the runway on its own. That way, you are certain that the plane touches the ground at the lowest possible speed.
based on the track record of “experts” I think it’s safe to say that at least 50% of men and maybe 20% of women could successfully land a plane.
Post of the thread.
...got in a REAL airplane...and was not just bad...but atrocious.
I could land it on the Bonneville Salt Flats. It might bounce a few times.
If the pilot passes out in a commercial jet, use the co-pilot! Duh!!
Bobby, you ever been in a Turkish prison?
I was in a flight simulator and the company salesman, who was a former pilot on this model cargo plane tried several times to take us off for a simulated flight. (You could have taken the controls out and installed them on the actual plane. The whole thing was on a huge, movable platform with movie projectors giving a stomach-twisting reality to the experience.) He crashed several times. And this was a guy who was a former pilot on that model. First time, he forgot the flaps. I don’t recall the other mishaps. But the cockpit is mind bogglingly complex. So, no. The average Joe is going to kill everyone. The reason it works in the movies is the author needs it to.
I’ve actually been in a 767/777 simulator and successfully landed it.
I have no illusions about being able to do it with the real thing.
The first thing you notice is the lag time between what you’re doing in the cockpit and the response of the big aircraft. Everything happens much slower than you think, except for the crash.
😆😂🤣😜
Karen Black in Airport 75: https://youtu.be/kaddVUt79PM?si=fGa77oeljfmE5FTK
Sounds like fun!!
I hate it when Stews say over the PA “We will be on the ground soon”.
I’ve been and still am a pilot for 40 years. I don’t think any young men can. They could look it up on google though! But by then they will have augured in.
MS Flight Sim is actually quite useful...as long as one understands the fundamentals. I had 9 hours of flight instructions in a Cessna 150 many moons ago and have a pretty clear memory of them. The problem in landing a modern airliner for a novice would be maintaining proper flight characteristics, locating and undrestanding instruments and controls...flap setting, landing gear, power management, etc., and finally correctly lining up approach. All that without panicking. Good freaking luck!
After he's through getting (ahem) inflated.
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