Most of us take human flight for granted. We board a plane in one city, get off in another, and rarely think about the scientific laws and incredible technology that make the in-between possible. Flying through turbulence, or experiencing a bumpy landing is like a surprise class test you didn’t study for. Unfortunately, all you have to go off of are some vague statistics you heard about flight being the safest way to travel and terrifying plane crashes you see in movies and on the news. It turns out, there are a handful of pretty crucial things we’ve gotten just completely wrong about how people fly and get killed while doing so.
1. Hole in an Aircraft will rip the Plane apart
This myth is the most commonly believed Myth out there.Any hole in Aircraft will get bigger and bigger sucking people out of the Airplane until the Plane disintegrates into pieces.
But in Reality, When a hole opens in an airplane, the inside of that plane will experience something called Explosive Decompression. People who happen to be directly next to especially large holes when this occurs can be sucked out — it’s happened a handful of times throughout the history of commercial flight. It has to be a giant hole, the people need to be directly next to it when it opens, and they can’t be wearing their seatbelt. It turns out Airplane Seats aren’t designed to slide away so easily.
If you aren’t immediately sucked out,you should be fine.The modifier “explosive” means a whole lot of decompression is taking place in an extremely brief period of time. When the barrier between the pressurized air inside the plane and the low pressure air outside is removed, the air inside the plane is going to explode out of the hole in a matter of seconds. If the plane doesn’t disintegrate when the initial hole opens, it’s pretty safe to assume the hole will not grow any larger, because the decompression is over.
2. Aircraft Are Quick to Start
In the movies, starting an aircraft, no matter the size, is only slightly more complex than starting a car. Flip a couple random switches, turn on some random lights, and push that big lever thing forward.So most of us believe that starting a plane is as simple as starting a car…
But in reality,Aircraft (no matter fixed or rotary) take a long time to start.Here’s a list of the checks that every 747 needs to go through before each flight. There are 79 steps before you get to the section labeled “before starting,” and another 44 steps before takeoff.Bell UH-1 Huey require 9 pages of checks before takeoff.
Every military with an Air Force has been constantly trying to increase the speed with which they’re able to get fighter jets into the air.
The US Air Force which is considered to be the most Advanced Air Force takes 15 Minutes to get its fighters Airborne.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, America was able to get the time from call to “wheels up” down to just a few minutes, but to do that they had to leave the planes on the runway with the engines running, which meant constantly refueling them and cycling in fresh pilots. If it’s completely shut down, with no auxiliary or electrical power applied, a complex aircraft will usually takes 20 minutes to even be ready to fly.
3. Copilots aren’t actual pilots, they’re just Trainees
Inevitably when there’s an airplane story in the news, reference is made to “The Pilot.” And Copilot is considered to be a Trainee learning from the Captain.
Thing is, there are always at least two pilots in a Jetliner Cockpit — a Captain and First Officer — and both of these individuals are fully qualified to operate the aircraft.The first officer is known colloquially as the copilot. But a copilot is not an apprentice: he or she shares flying duties with the captain more or less equally. The captain is officially in charge, and earns a larger paycheck to accompany that responsibility, but both are capable of flying the plane. Copilots perform just as many takeoffs and landings as captains do — and both are part of the decision-making process.
Just be aware that either pilot may have been at the controls during a particular incident. In fact, while protocols are different carrier to carrier, it’s not unusual during emergencies or other abnormal situations for the captain to delegate hands-on flying duties to the copilot, allowing the captain to concentrate on communications, troubleshooting, running the checklists and coordinating with the cabin crew.
4. Helicopter Rotors can slice through Everything during a Crash
We all have seen in the movie that whenever there is a Helicopter nearby,Either its gonna crash or someone will be cut into pieces.
Due to the fact that they often happen low to the ground, at very high speeds, helicopter crashes are actually fatal less often than airplane crashes.
And about the slicing part ?
The helicopter’s “blades” are actually just wings. They’re made to slice through the air.They are Mostly made things like foam and honeycomb to make them light and fast.That “stainless steel erosion shield” is for protection against things like dust and sand, which can actually do a number on helicopter blades to the point of needing to be replaced. Because a rotor blade is the helicopter’s wing, it’s made to be a specific shape that generates lift.
5. Crash Position won’t help during Plane Crash
Conspiracy theorists have even suggested that the crash posture is intended to only protect your teeth so that your body is easy to identify.There is little to no way of surviving a Crash.
Most plane crashes are totally survivable as long as you do exactly what the flight attendants advised during that speech you slept through.95 percent of people who survive plane crashes, and one of the main reasons is that “Crash Position“. In Australia, a plane crashed while the 16 passengers aboard were sleeping. The only survivor was the one who woke up and assumed the emergency crash position.