To recap, the main reason airplanes dim their cabin lights during nighttime takeoffs and landings is for safety. It creates a safer environment by making the emergency exits easier for passengers to find while also allowing passengers to adjust their vision if an emergency occurs.
The three-dimensional environment of flight is unfamiliar to the human body, creating sensory conflicts and illusions that make spatial orientation difficult and sometimes impossible to achieve. The result of these various visual and nonvisual illusions is spatial disorientation.
A: As a jet descends toward the runway, the pilot increases the power to maintain a specific descent rate (usually around 700 feet per minute). Jet engines require time to accelerate, so the increase in thrust (known as spooling up) improves the ability to go around should it be necessary.
When clouds surround an airport, pilots have been able to find the path to the runway for decades by using an Instrument Landing System, or ILS.
If the airplane's interior is dark while its exterior is bright and sunny, passengers may struggle to quickly exit the airplane during an emergency. Therefore, airlines require passengers to open their window shades during takeoffs and landings to allow for eyesight adjustment.
Electromagnetic interference to aircraft systems is a common argument offered for banning mobile phones (and other passenger electronic devices) on planes. Theoretically, active radio transmitters such as mobile phones, walkie–talkies, portable computers or gaming devices may interfere with the aircraft.
It's for your own safety. If anything happens during take-off and landing - the most risky stages of every flight - then your eyes will already be used to the dark or the light outside, and you'll be able to react more quickly. That's also the reason why the lights in the cabin are dimmed for take-off and landing.
Peaceful flight
One of the biggest advantages of flying at night is that this kind of passenger will probably be asleep. For this reason, flying at night is a more peaceful experience for pilots.
Pilots have a unique viewpoint while flying private or commercial aircraft. They get an unobstructed view of stunning natural sights, such as pink lakes and rectangular-shaped icebergs. Some have reported seeing UFOs, while others have flown over swirling hurricanes.
It is not normally the case that pilots wear night-vision goggles. Civilian transport is well equipped enough to not warrant the use of NVGs. Most pilots will use onboard instruments and navigation aids to make their way around the sky at night.
But if you've ever felt compelled to applaud the pilot for landing safely, think again. Pilots actually hate it when passengers clap. According to a Q&A on internet forum Quora, Scott Kinder, who identified himself as a 737 captain of a major US airline, said it is ignorant. “Don't even think about it.
Turbulence can also be expected in the lower levels of a cold air mass that is moving over a warm surface. Heating from below creates unstable conditions, gusty winds and bumpy flying conditions. Thermal turbulence will have a pronounced-effect on the flight path of an airplane approaching a landing area.
When landing a pilot will have one hand on the yoke (or stick) and one hand on the throttle, as throttle adjustments are needed to maintain the correct glide angle and initiate a go-around if required.
Pilots need to identify different colors to fly successfully. Therefore, pilots are tested for their color perception when they see an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) for a medical certificate. Your AME will give you a color blindness test. If you fail that test, it's not necessarily the end of your flying career.
I've known pilots who are scared of flying. In the industry, they are known as seagulls because you have to throw rocks at them to get them to fly and, even then, they squawk the entire time. One mate of mine who wasn't keen on flying said he coped by always taking a taxi to the airport.
Flight plans need to account for the curvature of the earth when they are created. Since the earth is three-dimensional, it would be impossible not to fly in an arc. Another reason that planes would choose to fly in a trajectory that resembles an arc is to account for the amount of traffic that will be in the air.
Many airlines provide crew rest areas on their aircraft, where pilots can sleep during long-haul flights. These areas are usually located in the tail, cargo area or above the cabin of the plane and are designed to be as quiet and comfortable as possible. Other crew members prefer to use business class seats to rest.
Many airports around the world enforce night curfews to limit noise pollution. Whilst there are a fair few red-eye flights in the US, you might have noticed that it's not always possible to book late-night flights in some countries.
Though rest is the priority, I try to do more than just rest in the hotel for longer overnights. On the welcomed but rare long overnight, I've made my way through historic sites, a presidential library, local independent bookstores, and unique landmarks and restaurants.
They're not glamorous, but they're very comfortable, with padded bunks and sometimes even in-flight entertainment! With 14- to 18-hour flights no longer unusual, pilots and cabin crew have legally mandated rest times —and airlines also realise that a rested, refreshed crew member is a happy crew member.
Pilots frequently report fatigue to their employers, which may be related to sleep disturbance. Airline pilots, in particular, often experience circadian desynchronization and other types of sleep disorders.
An especially astute passenger will notice that these little triangles throughout the cabin line up with the wings outside the plane. If flight crew need to check the wings, these triangles let them know the best vantage points for the slats and flaps outside.
Yes. On most passenger aircraft models, some cockpit windows can be opened. On the Airbus A320, for example, there are two windows that can be opened, one on the captain's side and one on the co-pilot's.
During the takeoff roll, the pilot monitoring the displays (PM) will call out the two important speeds: V1 and rotate. This indicates to the pilot flying the aircraft (PF) when they are beyond the safe stopping speed and when to rotate the aircraft into the air.