You've spent the last hour gripping your seat white-knuckled and the sense of relief you feel as the plane makes contact with the ground is palpable. You bring your hands together, ready to clap - but before you do, know this: pilots hate it when you applaud when the plane lands.
But on the Huffington Post, flight attendant David Puzzo listed clapping as one of the 12 things people should never (that's right, never) do on a plane, alongside not wearing shoes in the bathroom, using nail polish remover, or eating stinky food.
There seems to be no clear reason as to when, where or why clapping when the aircraft lands stands. Online discussion suggest several possibilities - to celebrate the return home after a long journey, to congratulate the pilots and crew, or even as a celebration from fearful fliers that it's all over.
Turns out, the answer is neither. Pilots are utterly indifferent to plane clappers, for one very good reason. “We can't hear any applause that may occur after landing,” New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association president Captain Andrew Ridling revealed.
But if you've ever felt compelled to applaud the pilot for landing safely, think again. Pilots actually hate it when passengers clap.
There is no clear origin story, though there are a few common scenarios for clapping: at the end of a particularly harrowing flight or long delay; in celebration of a return to one's homeland; or in continuation of a tradition that started who-knows-when-or-why.
Depending on how long the flight is, your feet might be swollen, your legs cramped, or you might be nauseous from taxiing. There's just a lot going on. Standing up can help get some of the blood flowing before it's time to exit the plane.
Air pressure moves in two directions towards the fly, the shock wave created by the hand clap can stun or kill the fly (even if you slightly miss).
But perhaps most contentious of all is the custom of clapping when an airplane lands. In an online poll of 39,954 people conducted by BuzzFeed, only 13 percent of participants admit to cabin clapping. The other 87 percent hold their applause, and judging by the poll's comments, they also abhor the practice.
Manspreading, body odor, and even the sometimes beloved tradition of clapping when the plane lands made the list. According to Only Wanderlust, the common airline passenger annoyances in order are: The Kicker — Your seat being kicked. The Stinker — A passenger with a bad body odor.
Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.
Touch-and-go landings can perform a crucial safety role when a plane lands with not enough space to come to a complete stop, but has enough space to accelerate and take off again.
According to a study by the Safety Matters Foundation that included 542 regional, local and international pilots, 66% of those polled admitted falling asleep while at the controls of the aircraft without waking up a fellow crew member.
About 40 percent of the general population reports some fear of flying, and 2.5 percent have what is classified as a clinical phobia, one in which a person avoids flying or does so with significant distress. As with other situational phobias, the fear is disproportionate to the danger posed.
More people are also getting bumped: According to a consumer report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the rate of passengers who were involuntarily denied boarding in the first quarter of 2022 was 0.44 per 10,000 passengers, which is more than five times greater than the 2021 figure (0.08) and bigger than ...
Over 15 years ago, researchers found that insects, and fruit flies in particular, feel something akin to acute pain called “nociception.” When they encounter extreme heat, cold or physically harmful stimuli, they react, much in the same way humans react to pain.
Fish have sensory receptors called nociceptors that can detect painful stimuli such as heat, pressure, and chemicals. When you hit a fly, the force of the impact is usually quite high relative to their body size, and this could cause damage to their exoskeleton or internal organs.
Fly on the wings of love
Flies are 'flirting on the fly' according to research published in BMC Biology by Courtney Eichorn and colleagues from Simon Fraser University. They found that female green bottle flies attract potential mates by flashing sunlight at particular frequencies from their wings.
A pilot's job extends to more than merely flying the plane
For instance, the First Officer is required to leave to conduct an external walk-around preflight before returning. Along with this, keeping the door open allows the Captain to monitor the boarding procedure. Of course, non-pilots may also come in and out.
In addition to wing spoilers, airplanes use disc brakes. Airplane disc brakes are similar to the braking system in automobiles. They consist of a pair of calipers that, when engaged, squeeze pads against the rotors of an airplane's landing gear.
Large planes fly fast and need a lot of space to turn around while maintaining safe distances from other aircraft. Small airports fly a standard clockwise pattern that always uses a u-turn. Larger airports with air traffic control and instrument guided approaches will have approach patterns published in charts.
Many people clap to appreciate a safe landing, while some are excited to arrive at their favorite destination. Yet, some others clap just for the fun of it. Interestingly, clapping upon landing has become a global phenomenon. No matter what part of the world you are flying to, you are bound to encounter some clappers.
Pilots rely heavily on computerised controls and with the assistance of the autopilot and the flight management computer, steer the plane along their planned route. They are monitored by air traffic control stations they pass along the way.
They talk about the weather conditions, how much fuel load they need, passenger count, and all other information needed to perform a smooth flight. Pilots can't just take-off when they wish it, they actually have to wait for an adviser's approval to do so.
The current longest flight in the world
Its longest flight path, which connects Singapore's Changi Airport with New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, 9,585 miles away, takes 18 hours and 40 minutes. The carrier has been flying the route since 2021.