An Asiana Airbus A321 from Seoul Incheon. Photo credit: N509FZ Can you open an emergency door mid-flight? If not, why not? This is a common question from air travelers. The simple answer is no, you certainly cannot open the door at mid-flight. However, there have been rare instances where doors were opened at lower altitudes. …
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An US Airways Airbus A320 Photo: 123RF What happens if a plane runs out of fuel during take-off or cruising at high altitude? It is highly unlikely for a plane to “run out” of fuel during take-off. This response is focused on commercial airplanes where their operations are tightly regulated. Before take-off, airliners carry a …
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A Malindo Air ATR 72-600 Turboprop plane Photo Credit: Teerawut Wongdee What happened to passenger planes with propeller engines? Are they all gone now? Many people believe that propeller planes are obsolete but the truth is that they are still very much alive and operating in many airlines around the world. They are generally flown …
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Photo credit: BobMil42 An Airbus Fuel Dumping in progress Have you ever wondered why pilots sometimes take longer to land even when there’s a technical problem? Recently, an unhappy passenger on an Airbus A320 flight from Guangzhou to Kuala Lumpur was left frustrated when the captain decided to fly for about three hours before …
Miracle on Qantas A380 Flight 32 Photo: Ramani What are some common parts that may fall off a plane and cause it to crash? Aircraft parts such as fasteners, hatch covers, cargo doors or engines falling off planes are very rare. On July 25, 2000, a metal strip did fall off from a Continental DC-10 …
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Mayday call of Qantas flight after an engine failure Photo: 123RF Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! What does this actually mean? ‘Mayday!’ when repeated 3 times with details and broadcasted over the radio is a cry for help in a life-threatening situation. In days gone by, radio communications could be bad and any distress call must …
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Bombardier Q400 operated by Colgan Air Photo Credit: Hawaiian717. How often do airline pilots fly the plane manually, rather than relying on autopilot and computers? This question seems to express concerns that some airline pilots are relying too much on automation such that a few have forgotten how to fly. Indeed, this has resulted in …
The last three British Airways Concordes in 2003. Credit: BAA Why did the Concorde stop flying, and is there any chance that it might return one day? There were many reasons that killed the Concorde. This plane was the most powerful commercial pure jet flying from 1976 to 2003. It flew faster than …
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My last London flight, completing 25,500 hours without experiencing an engine failure If an engine fails on take-off, will the pilot abort the take-off or continue? When an engine fails on take-off, a pilot’s decision to go or not, would depend on the speed it has attained. From day one, a pilot is reminded that, …
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Plane came within seconds of disaster when a pilot mistake sent it plunging towards the ocean. Photo: 123RF On 10 January 2023, a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 flight from Doha to Copenhagen nosedived and narrowly avoided striking the Arabian Gulf shortly after take-off from the Hamad International Airport. According to Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service …
Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500 Source: TMLN 123 What is the cause of an airplane stall during landing and how can it be prevented? A stall in a plane is unlike a car – the engine does not stop. It is a condition when the airspeed becomes too low and the plane just drops off the …
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A Delta Airline plane loading for departure A major air disaster at JFK Airport avoided by the captain on Friday the 13! There are many emergency-drills a pilot practices in the flight simulator in anticipation of a real one in his flying career one day. Indeed, on Friday the 13, January 2023, the captain of …
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How Some Unruly Passengers Behave in Flight… On a recent flight from New York to Delhi, an unruly male passenger urinated on a woman in the plane. This person appeared to be drunk on the flight. The victim demanded for the immediate arrest of the culprit upon landing but against her wishes, the crew brought …
Photo: Benny Zheng Scoot’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner What if unruly air passengers refuse to buckle up? Recently, it was reported that a group of unruly passengers on a Scoot flight refused to fasten their seat belts as the plane was making a descent to land. Well, the captain is ultimately called upon by the purser …
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Photo: 123RF An Airbus A350 Can an airplane complete a full flight on auto pilot? There is some confusion on what constitutes a full flight. If we define it as from the departure gate, say from Kuala Lumpur to the London Heathrow arrival gate, then we cannot say that the auto pilot is capable of …
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Image Credit: Mentour Pilot Lining up on a Runway under Construction Get-there-itis – a potential pilot killer Pilots often face tremendous pressures. As such, safety at times takes a backseat to getting there on time. Get-there-itis or get-home-itis means the determination of a pilot to reach a destination even when the conditions for flying are …
Photo: 123RF A Boeing 737 Cockpit Is it possible for someone who has never flown before to successfully land an airliner? For that someone who has never flown, the chances of successfully bringing the plane down safely are almost nil. But, if that passenger is a general aviation enthusiast, a computer geek on the Microsoft …
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AmIGoingDown? App What is the probability that a plane will crash? The probability of a fatal plane crash is extremely low. A cursory search shows that the risk of your plane going down is around 1 in 5.4 million and the risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is about …
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Image credit: Allec Joshua Ibay An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 Why does the plane suddenly go around? A go-around occurs when the pilot makes a decision not to continue a landing. It is also called a missed approach, wave-off, rejected or aborted landing. Whatever one chooses to call it, the captain is definitely not …
Image: Bull Bosphorus A United Airlines Boeing 777 engine on Fire What is the best way for a pilot to deal with an engine fire? Engine fire is a very rare occurrence in modern planes today. Nevertheless, it did happen on a Boeing 777 in Denver last year. The best way for a pilot to …
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