![]() “People’s presumptions about how modern planes are flown, and what airline pilots actually do, has long frustrated me,” Smith says. Plus, there’s a world of difference between a small owner-flown plane and an enormous commercial airliner. That’s all pretty incredible, but it's only suitable for certain plane models and comes with its own set of limitations. ![]() In that scenario, the system will choose the best airport and runway to land at based on its current location, fuel state, weather, and so on, then navigate a route to that runway and land on it while avoiding terrain and obstacles and communicating with other pilots and air traffic control. Yes, there is an autopilot function on planes that could take some of the work out of the petrified passenger's hands, but what about an autoland function? The tech company Garmin recently developed autoland technology for smaller planes-generally owner-flown-that is supposed to take complete control of the plane if they detect the pilot is unable to fly. “There is a zero-percent chance of a successful outcome in this scenario.” Planes Really Can't Fly Themselves “A non-pilot wouldn’t have the slightest idea even how to work the communications radios, let alone fly and land the jet,” Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author, tells Mental Floss via email. And if that's the case-which, again, would likely never happen-then you might have something to worry about. In 2014, the pilot of a United Airlines flight suffered a heart attack, and the co-pilot landed the plane with help from a passenger who, as luck would have it, was an off-duty USAF pilot.īut not all planes are lucky enough to have a passenger who just so happens to be a pilot sitting in business class. ![]() There have been a few notable events in which a passenger with flight experience has been called on to help. “But in the unlikely event it did, you’d want someone with flying experience if possible, even in small planes.” Thanks to the redundancy and rules in place, a pilotless cockpit is “extremely unlikely to ever happen,” Binstead tells Mental Floss. There are even protocols in place at certain airlines that prevent the pilot and co-pilot from eating the same dinner in case of contamination. ( Co-pilot is an occasionally misunderstood term-a co-pilot, also known as a first officer, is a fully trained pilot entirely capable of performing all the duties of a captain.) For instance, in 2009, when the pilot of a 777 died midflight over the Atlantic, the safe landing of the flight was never in question due to the presence of an extremely experienced first officer and international relief officer.īeyond making sure that there's more than one pilot on board, according to Dan Binstead, flight instructor for FTA Global, a pilot's health is rigorously checked by different agencies around the world ( the FAA oversees medical certificates in the U.S., for example). It's typically depicted as being as simple as getting some instructions from the tower and setting the plane down on the runway-but is that how it would really go down? How Airlines Prepare for a Pilot Emergencyįortunately, it’s never happened in real life, thanks to built-in redundancy: Commercial planes have a pilot and co-pilot and, on long-haul flights, sometimes a relief crew in part to ensure there will always be more capable pilots than necessary. ![]() And there are few thrustings-upon more dramatic than the disaster-movie scenario of an airliner’s flight crew being stricken and a non-pilot having to take the wheel and land the plane. Some people are born great, and others have greatness thrust upon them. ![]()
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