manny4life:

Nope. There's no escape route. Unless a plane reaches below FL100, OR 10,000FT, it's useless. You will dies before reaching the ground. It's up to experienced pilots to save you, if not,... You're gone.

But how come in Hollywood movies, people jump out and survive.

afam4eva: I just want to know why most planes don't have parachute so that passengers can jump off a plane in case of an emergency. Abi na for only film dem dey use parachute? I think i'll have to purchase my own parachute and wear it whenever i'm travelling by air.

How many passangers know how to deploy parachutes? Don't you know that the use of parachute require special skills? Apart from that, do you expect an old man or woman of 80years to deploy parachute from air in an emergency?

afam4eva:
So, it seems there no escape route? I think i have to start looking for another mode of transportation. Witchcrafttransportation might be a sure bet.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

afam4eva,

There is no escape route when an airplane is about to crash. Are you trained to skydive or deploy an imaginary parachute before embarking on a flight? By the way, you wont even know a plane is about to crash unless there is an explosion coupled wit a smoke filled cabin or been tossed about. lol

In addition to question 16

When it's landing, the reversing factor comes in. In larger airplanes, there's a lever called Thrust Reverse which helps generate DRAG to slow the aircraft upon landing. When it's landing, most airplanes are a lil lighter, but if they're heavy, it favors the pilot as well.

I wish Ships were faster.

afam4eva:
But how come in Hollywood movies, people jump out and survive.

LOL... Bros, that's why it's HOLLYWOOD. Most of Hollywood is in theory, real life, most don't exist.

13.Why do the crew insist on switching the cabin lights off when departing or landing at night/its dark?

It's standard operating procedure and besides, it's VERY important due to vision. The ONLY lights that are permitted to be on is beacon/strobe lights, and if you under a certain FL, your taxi lights. It's kinda of like when driving, IT FORBIDDEN to put on you high beam lights, EXCEPT in really bad weather or when visibility is almost zero. Same principle apply. Cabin light causes it's own distraction as well.

Dnt get workd up about d preflight walk around. Aircrafts ar d most maintained machine in d world.

Wen takin off is d most risky. Low airspeed, high nose attitude, low altitude. Any piam!! Shikena! Cos u cant glide wit low airpeed, d aircraft wil drop like a tank. Boom!!!!

I dnt knw 4 airliners, but d cessna am trainin wit is 1000rpm. U rotate at 55-65knots in cessna. Dnt ask me 2 convert, plssss.

Wanna b a pilot? Join a flight skul. 4 ur info, aviation is nt glamorous d way its painted. Imagine gettin ur 4st job years after spendin close 2 10million in trainin. Tink twice. Aviation made me a millionaire, cos i entered it a BILLIONAIRE. Only join d league if u hav d passion, cos only dat can sustain u till u build hours n become eligible 4 high payin jobs. Dats 10yrs afta u graduated oooo.

Aircrafts av got wat we call cruise speed in smooth air, n never xceed or maximum speed.

The higher speed of the plane, the faster you have to be removed from it and remain safe.

That means that at cruising speed (and altitude!), you would almost be shred into pieces if you simply jump out. Another thing is... to safely leave a passenger plane in-flight, the safest spot for it would be the underbelly... Jumping from the front door (even if you could open it!) would lead you to the collision with the wing, or you would likely be sucked into the engine (for DC9 and similar planes). Jumping from the rear door would take you straight into the jet stream, which could kill you too.

Now, imagine 120 people (in case of DC9) or even well over 400 in case of planes such are B747 or A380, trying toqueue up and go to the lower level of the plane in order to jump out.

I need about 20 seconds to put on a rescue parachute. But I did it at least thousand times. Imagine now a small kid travelling alone (supervised only by attendants), an overweight person in front of you or a grandmother in her wheelchair. How on earth would they do it? And if they can't, while blocking your way, then what?

Ah, another comparison. In late 19th and early 20th century, there was a huge and fast development of the railroad transport in the UK. First trains were quite unsafe. Now, British railways would implement safety (and other) measures, ONLY if the cost of the implementation was less than the estimated cost of potential lawsuits (in case of accidents). So, for them, human life (and health) DID have a price. I don't think it is any different compared to today's airline companies and builders such are Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and others.

7.How many trips does a plane make say for example London to Lagos before it is taken out of service?

I remember when I worked on a similar project like this but in all, the average airplane has a 20yr life on it. Airplanes are NOT depreciated by the number of trip, BUT on HRS or say miles flown (if depreciation) based on the component of the aircraft . For instance, aircraft are divided in Airframe and Power-plant. The Power Plant (though not an engineer), has a number of flight cycles/hrs before it's overhauled, or even removed. Due to it's nature, you have to depreciate these components differently. However, airframe on the other hand can be almost 20 years. If everything remained equal, an airplane, say a B737-800 has a standard of 300hrs/month which equals to abt 108,000 hrs. If you want the math breakdown, let me know.

Thats why deres google.

Re: Pilots And Cabin Crew In The House. I Have Questions For You. by steph7: 1:02pm
Let me answer the ones I can.
Turbulence is caused by clouds, so the higher the altitude of the plane the less turbulence.
Mobile phones may cause interference esp if the service provider is using another frequency not allocated to it, so the safest bet is for all phones to be off to prevent co channel interference.
The ears pop due to a change in pressure.
Your suitcases are always damp because the luggage hold isn't pressurized like the cabin, so the air out there is quite moist.
(Quote) (Report) (Like)



@


turbulence is not directly caused by aircraft's altitude. you can experience turbulence at any time during your flight. turbulence is caused by varying air mass density. when you travel through a denser air ,the lift generated by the wing increases and the aircraft will rise and vise visa when you travel through a less dense air the lift generated is reduced and the aircraft sinks. so goimg though air will varing density will affect the aircraft's lift hence the fluctuation in height.


just to correct you, the aircraft holds are all pressurised.

ALL answers on first page

read my reply there

Cosmopolice: Thats why deres google.

There are things Google will not tell you except experience.

You're just like someone who said on NL, a smart kid with great spatial awareness can fly an A380, seriously. I said to him, you've been playing/flying too many Microsoft Flight Simulator.

8.What is the average pay for a pilot and crew?

There is no standard average pay, however, it all depends on experience, who you're flying for, license, different currencies, etc. If you have an ATPL, exp on newer + older jets + different specialties et all, those exp pilots get 6figures annually.

chaircover: I have a couple of questions for the pilots in the house. I hate flying so the more I know about how things work up there, should hopefully help kill this fear

If anyone has further questions feel free to ask too.


3.Why do your ears pop on some flights and not on others?

I can answer this well as i frequently battle with that.
It's actually dependent on YOU- Yes, and not the airplane. The name of the popping is actually termed ear-plane(the pain can be harrowing, few people have reported bursted ear drums)
The cause is the inability of your ear drum to equalize the air pressure inside your ear with the one outside, caused by the pressurized cabin.
These are my tested procedures for ear-pop free flights:
Each time you have cold/cattarh, avoid flying altogether if you can , otherwise use nasal spray,or sudafed 30mins before take-off to help clear your middle ear tube for free flow of air. You can also use ear plugs to block your ear (fix them shortly before boarding)
Hope this helps.

keneri:
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I agree with you. Parachutes on planes are useless. At 10,000ft, the air becomes thin and lack oxygen. So when a passenger jumps off, he likely dies of asphyxiation (lack of oxygen)under 60secs. So whats the need to jump out of an airplane at say 30,000ft? Pilots will never inform passengers of an impending doom until it happens to avoid unnecessary panic or stampede. They try all they can to save an aircraft until it eventually gets saved or doomed.

I think the aviation industry really need to look at the parachute option, i hate it when people mention lack of oxygen as if there is nothing called Oxygen mask and portable oxy-cylinder that can be fastened to my back if I chose to dive out. I propose a fire-resistant parachute and oxygen cylinder for dare-devil survivors who chose to dive out.

I'm thinking of having a four jumbo sized parachutes on the aircraft, to be attached to the wings, head and tail compartments. which should only be deployed when it's certain the aircraft is crashing.

Imagine the bird dropping like a paper kite? thus, the force on impact will be reduced drastically which I think is the major cause of deaths.


Honestly, I detest flying .

Billyonaire:

I think the aviation industry really need to look at the parachute option, i hate it when people mention lack of oxygen as if there is nothing called Oxygen mask and portable oxy-cylinder that can be fastened to my back if I chose to dive out. I propose a fire-resistant parachute and oxygen cylinder for dare-devil survivors who chose to dive out.

@Chaircover

U can add the program "Air Crash Investigation" to ur favorite list. by the time u watch up to 10 episodes u would have known a lot about airplane's mechanisms, weather influences on flights, how the size of a plane or even the design influences its maneuvers, etc. I love planes and flying so much I watch a lot of AIRCRASH INVESTIGATION that when I talk about aeroplanes sometimes ppl think I am an aeronautic engineer or a pilot or something. I hope the documentaries wont scare u the more tho. Cos its scary sometimes to see plane smashing the ground with incredible speed like a missile. But its a good way to learn if u have the heart to watch it. Its also on utube.

lots of pilots in the house, please i need a pilot boyfriend asap

Osiris.211:
I'm thinking of having a four jumbo sized parachutes on the aircraft, to be attached to the wings, head and tail compartments. which should only be deployed when it's certain the aircraft is crashing.

Imagine the bird dropping like a paper kite? thus, the force on impact will be reduced drastically which I think is the major cause of deaths.


Honestly, I detest flying .

Good idea guys but if u take a critical look at the entire setting, the parachute alternative is not practical for many reason.

1)In most cases, when a plane is on its way to crash, the pilots usually still believe that they could do something then suddenly, they would realize that they are just minutes to crashing... too late.
2)In another case, the plane misbehaves on air so much that even if u had a parachute and u wanna jump out with it, it would be difficult because the plane is in an awkward position and ppl are falling over each other.
3)And again, if u are in a commercial plane, remember that the vacuum is large and all planes are pressurized with oxygen gas, if the plane's door is opened arbitrarily on flight, the pressure effect will throw u outside equally arbitrarily and it might knock u on the fuselage.
4) Do u know how to skydive? or u think just any one can skydive without learning how to do it?
U know I am not an expert but I bet u even an expert will give u more tonnes of reasons why it is impracticable.

Well its an interesting topic but that"s the way it is.

[b]Oh okay, sorry I quoted ur comment but u are actually talking about parachutes on the wings. Well lets talk about that too. Now how can that be possible? u think its possible? well I don't think so. Reason is this. U will need a massive sheet of material that will hold the massive weight of a plane back when its resting on gravity. Have u seen the parachute designed for just 1 human being that weighs an average of 80kg before? U can then do the math and imagine what could the parachute that will hold a plane effectively look like. Lets assume someone designed this massive parachute, where would u place it on a plane? definitely not the wings, never, the wings of a plane is carrying out alot of sensitive mechanisms that actually flys the plane and it is majorly through the way it reacts against the wind, so there is no place for a parachute on the wings. The weight of the parachute also will be too much for the plane even if its placed elsewhere. The plane has maximum weight it must have before it can float in the air.. and on and on.. so many reasons[/b]

Billyonaire:

I think the aviation industry really need to look at the parachute option, i hate it when people mention lack of oxygen as if there is nothing called Oxygen mask and portable oxy-cylinder that can be fastened to my back if I chose to dive out. I propose a fire-resistant parachute and oxygen cylinder for dare-devil survivors who chose to dive out.

Seriously? Come on man, oxygen mask is deployed in the airplane, ok but for the cylinder, where will you store the pressurized gas cylinders please? Assuming a B737-800 of 160+ pax, where will you store cylinders for easier access? Did you forget the weight (empty + gas content) of the cylinders? Have you thought of the safety rules, regulations, international laws etc for having all these cylinders? Even if a portable cylinder weighted 10lbs x that by 160pax, that's an additional 1,600lbs.

Look man, I'm not saying it's not possible, but somewhat impractical.

The idea of having parachutes on planes is nothing new, but fitting them to larger aircraft is one of the radical new ideas being suggested in Geneva this year.


http://www.terminalu.com/europe/parachutes-on-planes-concept-designed-to-prevent-air-crashes/25413/

keneri:
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

afam4eva,

There is no escape route when an airplane is about to crash. Are you trained to skydive or deploy an imaginary parachute before embarking on a flight? By the way, you wont even know a plane is about to crash unless there is an explosion coupled wit a smoke filled cabin or been tossed about. lol

I've you been a victim before?
How did you escaped it?

Pls, what was that LASTMA dude doing in the air? Whats his work ther?

I hv a question for pilots in the house..
1.What prevent planes frm colliding wt another in the air since the pilots doesnt see afar,most especially busy routes like London,New york etc.?
2.Hw do pilots knw when they are approaching the airport and able to locate the runway, and also when on an emergency landing on another airport.

Mr Man, this is a lot of questions but i have decided to answer all of them because for a layman you have asked a very high quality set of questions.

1.What causes turbulence and do some routes suffer more than others? It seems to me that the Abuja-London route suffers more turbulence than the London-Lagos route.

Turbulence is caused by convection (air moving up and down due to heating) weather Phenomena ( thunderstorms, winds, jetstreams, etc) and topography (hills, buildings). I believe Abuja-LHR and Lagos-LHR should have the same weather as the routing is basically the same except for the first hour of flight. It may be a factor of the time of the day.

2.Do some airlines absorb the turbulence better? From my experience Virgin doesn’t seem to be as bumpy as ARIK and BA

It’s a factor of aircraft type. Aspect Ratio (ratio of how thin the wings are when viewed from above) determines how well aircraft ride turbulence. Virgin and arik fly the same type of aircraft so the ride should be the same. When you sit in the aircraft is also a factor, turbulence is felt the most at the rear of the aircraft.

3.Why do your ears pop on some flights and not on others?

Personal health could be a factor. If you have a cold your ears are more likely to pop.The pressurisation systems of some aircraft control the rate of change of pressure more smoothly than others.

4.Why does the plane dramatically slow down when the Wheels come out for landing

Air resistance: if you stick your hand out of the window of a moving car at 50 KPH you feel the air resistance. So you can imagine dropping three or more massive landing gear assemblies at 300 kph.
Also the pilots usually are trying to slow from approach speed (180 knots=330KPH) to landing speed (140 knots=260kph) when they drop the landing gear so it helps.

5.And why does it make such a loud thud/slam when the wheels come out. I thought it was to do with hydraulics so why is it so noisy?

The landing gear are heavy, the force of gravity help them to be lowered. In case of a loss of hydraulics, most landing gear are designed to drop with gravity, so you will even hear a louder thud. Its actually a reassuring sound to pilots. Also there is a roaring sound which is the sound of the airflow.

6.What maintenance do the ground engineers do when the plane comes in and before take off again

From the basic to the most elaborate.
a. Walk around: done before and after every flight by the pilots and or the engineers. Takes a few minutes.
b. Daily maintenance signout: before the 1st flight of the day an engineer “releases the aircraft to service”
c. Scheduled maintenance check: sometime refered to as A,B,C, and D checks. Different levels of complexity with D being the most complex. Most C and D check are usually not done in Nigeria due to lack of facilities, but Aerocontarctors can now do C checks.
d. Non-scheduled maintenance: if a component fails in flight, maintenance personnel may have to fix it prior to the next flight. There are also procedures that allow aircraft to fly with certain defects (acceptable deffered defects ADD).

7.How many trips does a plane make say for example London to Lagos before it is taken out of service?

Don’t listen to most Nigerian aviation personnel, age has got nothing to do with it. Aircraft life is based on cycles (one flight from takeoff to landing) or flying hours (from takeoff to landing). Long haul aircraft may not be designed for the same number of cycles as a short haul aircraft. So the Boeing 737 may be designed for 50000 hours and 50000 cycles while the 747 will be designed for 50000 hours and 15000 cycles.
Its aeroplane type specific. Typically most airliners should be able to fly for 30 years plus with no problems. I have flown 60 year old commercial aircraft in pristine condition. I have flown an 80 year old world war 1/2 era aircraft in pristine condition.
Aircraft will normally be checked at least once a day as specified in 6 above.

8.What is the average pay for a pilot and crew?

In Nigeria, salaries may come with or without other benefits and allowances.
Captain: N750k to N3m or more
Copilot: N250k to 1.5M or more
Cabin crew: N50k to N1m. the top end of the scale is experienced crew on private jets.

9.Do pilots sleep when the plane is on autopilot? And do the number of pilots increase with the lenght of the flight so eg are there more pilots on the UK-Australia route than there would be on the london-lagos route?

Pilots are usually limited to 8hrs of flying a day. So on flights greater than 8 hours extra pilots are usually carried. On a 2 man aircraft it’s a 2 pilots for flight up to 8 hrs, 3 pilots for flights up to 12 hours, and 4 pilots for flights up to 16 hours. Some countries allow pilots to fly higher hours. Long range aircraft have dedicated crew rest areas with beds.
On short flights power napping (maximum 45 minutes) is becoming accepted across the industry to reduce fatigue.

10.Do mobile phones really affect electronics on the flight?

The switching off of phones is more of a precaution. There is a remote possibility of phones interfering with certain systems. The aviation industry always errs on the side of caution. I think very soon you will be able to use your mobile phone on every airline as onboard communication facilities get introduced. In the cockpit, sometime we hear beeps in our communication equipment when phones are left on.

11.When the plane comes to land how do the back wheels drop down so gently without slamming into the runway considering the weight of the plane?

Most airplanes (in the “tricycle” configuration) are designed to land on the rear landing gear assemblies. The pilots will close the thrust levers and raise the nose of the aircraft to allow the aircraft to touchdown at an acceptable rate of descent. How smoothly the aircraft touches down is a function of pilot technique and sometime luck. There are some conditions where the pilot may have to thump the aircraft down for safety reasons such as wet or “contaminated” runway conditions or challenging wind conditions.
A smooth landing is not always a safe landing and a hard landing is not necessarily dangerous. Most aircraft manufacturers recommend firm landings to reduce the risk of overshooting the end of the runway on landing.

12.When a flight departs late, most times the pilots try and make up time. If the plane therefore can safely travel that fast, then why not just use that speed anyway and reduce the flight times of all flights?

Same thing with your car, just cos it says 280KPH on the dash doesn’t mean you drive around at 280KPH. Aviation fuel is very expensive so aircraft are flown at a particular economy or long range speed that gives and economical fuel burn.

13.Why do the crew insist on switching the cabin lights off when departing or landing at night/its dark?

If the lights are on you can’t see what’s happening outside. In an emergency you have to see what’s outside before you evacuate. Evacuations are most likely to occur during takeoff and landing.

14.Why are suitcases sometimes damp when they come out of the hold?

It can be cold in the cargo hold. When the bags are removed from the cargo hold the warmer air condenses hence the moisture.

15.Is it me or does anyone else suddenly notice the increase in heat in the cabin during day flights over the desert?

Cabin temperature is set by the crew. In flight with the air conditioning sytem fully functional, external conditions should have no effect. The air conditioning system maintain a certain cabin temperature.

16.I know that the engines “drive” the planes, but how does the plane go up in the air and not down at ground level like a car or boat will?

The aircraft engines generate thrust by pushing the air rearwards; they are not connected to the tires. If you have spend a bit of time on the ramp (or tarmac as a lot of people call it) you will experience "jet blast" at least once. I have seen it knock over vehicle. A Boeing 777-300ER generates 115,000 LBS of force per engine at take off thrust.

. . . . . . . And last of all why is airline food sooooooo crap?
Bwaaahahahhahahhhhahahhahhahha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you need any further elaboration, please ask. In flying we have a saying "There's no such thing as stupid questions, but there are stupid answers"

Actually cabin crew does not switch off cabin light during night flghts. They only dim it.This is for safety reasons. In a dim condition, the eye is given time to adjust to minimal light. If there should be a need to evacuate the airplane,the differnce between the intensity of light within and that of the outside is minimal if no non existent

No one wants to answer my question may be its a one way traffic,no answer except frm the op. """slam the door and leaves"""""""

chaircover: I'm so glad I asked the questions cos now I know the answers. Shame I didnt ask them earlier

Thanks everyone.

BTW Flyinnaija are those salaries monthly or yearly?

I have one last question . . . . what will happen if the pilot gets to the end of the runway and discovers that the plane wont lift? I read somewhere that there is a point on the runway where the take off can no longer be aborted for any reason and the plane has to try and get up regardless.

Exactly!

There are different call out speeds for an aircraft - V1, Vr, V2

V1 speed is the maximum decision speed. This is the speed you're referring to. After this speed, the aircraft MUST rotate even if there's an engine failure.

In a nutshell are there any checks that are carried out before the plane starts to thunder down the runway that will assure them the plane will actually lift up at the end of the runway?. I know that whilst we are boarding and the engines are switched on, the pilots check the flaps cos you can see them go up and down but what about lift off. How is that checked?

It's called "Before Takeoff Checklist". Depending on size and class of aircraft, they can include up to 12 checks and these include flap set position, throttle, parking brakes, spoilers, pitot heat (if weather related), strobes etc.