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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Photo: 123RF A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737 What happens if a pilot falls asleep on a long flight? On 15 August 2022, two Ethiopian Airlines pilots flying a Boeing 737 missed landing after reportedly falling asleep. They could not be contacted by the air traffic controller but were awakened by an on-board alarm. They were …
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Photo: 123RF An AirAsia Airbus A320 What are the consequences of a pilot making a mistake? After having retired from flying, I was involved in safety audits, observing how airline pilots operate their flights. Our team identified threats and errors to aviation safety and highlighted them so that all airline pilots in the company could …
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Image: Wikipedia A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 Do planes ever really crash into each other in the air? On 12 November 1996, a Saudia Boeing 747 from Delhi to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and a Kazakhstan Airline Ilyushin Il-76 from Shymkent, Kazakhstan to Delhi collided over Charkhi Dadri around 100 km west of Delhi. It was the world’s deadliest mid-air collision which killed all 349 …
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Photo: 123RF A pilot can opt to go around anytime during a landing What do pilots do if they get scared while landing? Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of difficult situations but that doesn’t mean they don’t get scared sometimes. Landing is not something a professional pilot is fearful of unless there is …
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United Airlines history-making sustainability flight Concerned Flyer: Should I be worried about climate change? Careen wrote to me asking numerous questions about winds, heavy rain, extreme weather, tornadoes and clear air turbulence. She was baffled and wondered whether climate change could affect the safety of air travel. Firstly, climate change defines the increasing changes of …
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British Airways Boeing 747 flying into a volcanic ash cloud What does a pilot say when he thinks he is going to crash? On 24 June 1982, a British Airways Boeing 747, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Perth encountered volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. It caused all the 4 engines …
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Oxygen mask be correctly worn over the mouth and nose You have only 30 seconds left before losing consciousness! Yes, this will be further reduced to 15 seconds if you are a senior citizen or moving around a lot when a plane is fully depressurized at 35,000 feet. This answers Asmiati Utari’s question on “What …
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Photo: 123 RF Paying Attention to Safety Briefing Why people don’t listen to inflight briefing? Last weekend, I was on a flight to see the world’s tallest tropical timber tree at the Tawau Hills Park in Sabah, Malaysia. This was my first flight after more than 2 years of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was looking …
Photo: Travel3Sixty Fear of Flying Help me! I am scared of flying! Careen Loo wrote to me by forwarding this Instagram video with screaming passengers https://tinyurl.com/27y52tcs She asked me 3 questions: 1: Whether the turbulence was considered moderate or severe. Well, I would classify this as severe turbulence. Turbulence is categorized into: Light – just …
Ditching – An Emergency Water Landing Is it safer to crash a plane on land or water? What are the chances of surviving a water landing? These 2 questions come from Praveen Upadhyay. Whether it would be safer to crash on land or water would depend on the choices available. If the misfortune happens near …
Photo: 123RF Flying without Fear Why is flying on an airplane so nerve-racking? For more than 2 years after restrictions and lockdowns due to Covid-19, people are rushing back to fly again. As the urge to fly to places where international borders are opening up, air ticket bookings are reported to be fast picking up. …
A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600 Breaking News! Virgin Atlantic, the first UK airline to allow their cabin crew to show off their tattoos! Virgin Atlantic cabin crew are permitted with effect from May 31, 2022 to display their tattoos to ‘encourage staff to be themselves’ and ‘champion individuality’ according to its chief People Officer, Estelle …
Photo: 123RF A QANTAS Boeing 747-400 Goodbye to the Iconic 747 as she flies into the sunset Imtiaz Hussain who has fond memories of the 747 Jumbo Jet asks why Boeing has decided to stop producing this plane. Well, Boeing had indeed announced on July 2020 that they have decided to retire this very famous …
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Photo: 123RF A Super Jumbo Airbus A380 Why do airplanes not just fall out of the sky due to gravity? Gebo Pol wants to know how an iron bird, such as the Airbus A380 weighing about 560 tonnes, is able to stay in the air and not fall out of the sky due to gravity. …
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Photo: 123RF Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 Why you shouldn’t be scared about flying I have just received a query from an air traveler in my Messenger. She asked whether she should be concerned about flying on her upcoming flight on the Boeing 777 with Singapore Airlines. This concern probably arose after the crashes on the …
Do planes fly in a straight line or follow the curvature of the Earth? Do planes fly in straight lines or follow the curvature of the Earth below? When I began to learn how to fly, during my first lesson, my instructor told me to maintain a ‘straight and level’ flight at 3000 feet. …
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A Malaysia Airline Boeing 737-800 It felt as if we were going to die! Recently, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800, similar to the China Eastern Airlines plane which crashed on 21 March 2022 in Wuzhou, China, encountered an unusual event that caused the aircraft to dive. The CAAM (Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia) press release attributed …
Can a plane window shatter in mid-flight? What happens if a plane window shatters mid-flight? Airplane windows are relatively strong. The main thing to know is that aircraft cabin windows are not made of glass but with stretched acrylic. You won’t be able to break an airplane’s window with your fist as it has …
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Photo: BobMil42 Airbus A340 Fuel Dumping in progress Why pilot dump fuel during an emergency? Prior to hanging up my uniform as a captain on the Boeing 777 in 2006, I encountered an emergency which potentially could have led to a depressurization if not properly handled. We could have ended up like the Helios Airways …