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: 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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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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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 …
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 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 …
Slithering snake on board Airbus A320 caused plane to divert In my last posting (see here), I mentioned that there is a check list for every emergency on board the plane. Now I must confess that there is none for ‘Snake on board cabin’! That was exactly what happened a few days ago day when …
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Photo: Travel 3Sixty Parachutes for air passengers? Why don’t airplanes have parachutes for passengers? Benjamin David from Quora asks the above question. Well, some people think that jumping off a plane with a parachute is a simple and easy task. In reality, this is impractical and fraught with difficulties. For a start, it is …
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The Boeing 787 is installed with an Air Purification System Is it safe to fly during the Covid-19 pandemic? Reacting to a scary message from a retired pilot that has gone viral in chat groups, friends have been asking me whether it is safe to fly in view of the current pandemic and the introduction …
Photo: 123RF An Airbus A380 Cockpit Can anyone actually be talked through landing a plane in an emergency? Bob Geary from Quora asks. I would like to discuss this hypothetical question of landing an A380 in 4 scenarios: Some movies have given the impression that an ordinary passenger with no flying experience can land …
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Aircraft’s windows are rounded Can you breathe on a plane if a window breaks at 35000 feet? Asnita Novi from Quora ask this interesting question. A commercial airliner’s window will not break in flight because they have been redesigned after 2 commercial jets with square windows crashed about 70 years ago Investigators into these …
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Photo: 123RF Normal air travel during the pre-Covid-19 pandemic When will air travel return to “normal”? A friend recently informed me that she flew in from Vancouver with rather poor passenger load. I can only assume that it was probably due to fear of Covid-19 infections that had kept many travelers away. Two studies …
Photo: 123RF From the Back Seats And the safest seat on an aircraft is… In studies by TIME of 17 plane crashes between 1985 and 2000, the safest place in the plane cabin is the back seats, followed by the mid-section and then the front compartment. These statistics might not be so compelling because of …
Image: RF123 An Airbus A350 holds the World record for the longest non-stop flight Charles Raisor from Quora asks the above question. I assume he meant ‘running out of fuel’ rather than ‘running out of gas’. Only piston propeller planes use gas or avgas (aviation gas). Modern commercial airliners run on jet fuel of various …
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Map of Antarctica The Covid-19 crisis has hit the airline industry very hard and caused the loss of 46 million aviation-supported jobs. As such, I was retrenched as a flight simulator instructor because there were no longer many pilots left to be trained or checked. I even closed down my 20-year-old flying website and retitled …
Plane flying by the right of my house (Blue Dot) “Wow! So many planes! Surely international travel is opening up for Malaysia!”, my neighbor exclaimed as I was doing my morning exercises yesterday. I then explained that the seasonal winds have shifted to a south-easterly direction and most planes are now landing on the right …