I really hope this doesn’t give EasyJet any cost-cutting ideas.
Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
441–450 of 491 posts
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#442Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always said the reason we don't have flying cars yet is because people can't drive in 2D much less 3D. This gives me hope.
"Flying cars" made sense to me until I started flying. Now I think "driving airplanes" is the more appropriate phrase for what might be in the realm of possibility. For example: here's how you'd prepare to visit distant relatives with each vehicle: Car: load up however much weight you want, turn the keys and start driving. Low on gas? Just turn off at the next exit. Weather looks bad? Just drive slowly and carefully…
Not that your general point is wrong, but I don't think "flying cars" are intended to replace airliners. They're supposed to be for travel within a city. Complicated calculations for route planning and refueling seem much less relevant for that case.
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#443BS "no idea how to fly."
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#444Mythbusters tried this (in a simulator) and both succeeded as long as the ATC was there to give instructions
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#445I bet this was a guy raised on video games. I was about to make a joke about it but I'm actually serious. Once I, a former Houstonian with no experience driving on ice, was driving through the snowy mountains and lost control of my car. Instead of panicking, my video-game-induced laser focus kicked in and I calmly piloted the car until the wheels gained traction and I could park the car on the side of the road. But l…
This reminds me of a man who told in some Dirt Rally 2.0 Youtube-video comments how spending hundreds of hours on that game saved his family on motorway. Some incident happened before the car and the man was able to avoid the danger safely with fast reactions and driving experience. This is the story I tell my wife whenever she questions my sim-racing hobby :)
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#446Hope everyone is safe.On lighter note, This has been my fantasy, to land a plane.
PS: I am not a pilot, but never missed single episode of Discovery "Wings" as a Kid.
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#447Pilot here. I'm floored that a person with no flying experience could put this airplane down without a scratch. Air traffic controllers are not necessarily pilots, but luckily, this one was a pilot and certified instructor. ATC and passenger worked through a stressful situation to produce an amazing outcome. Bravo!
Listening to the audio of the conversation, it doesn't seem like the passenger has no flying experience... At minimum they must have spent significant time around aviation or be ex-military. e: From another comment on Reddit > Examples: > The passenger knew what button to press on the yoke to transmit to ATC. > The passenger knew aviation phraseology and phonetics “333 Lima Delta”. > The passenger knew where the alti…
I would love to hear the full audio somewhere. Maybe there was a lot of extra information about how to use those controls.
He was also very comfortable with the radio, dropping in terms like 10-4.
A similar episode a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzhKczNcB_c
(There's the full audio for that somewhere but I can't find it right now)
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#448Earlier quoted context omitted.
I lean towards aggreing with you. It’s possible he was prior military. I was an AE and worked on basically all of the flight systems in my eight years in the navy. The fact he knew phonetics just makes me believe he served or at the very least, was heavily exposed in another function.
Or just wanted to know phonetics for any other reason. They're not that hard and they're pretty useful on the phone.
I find these days they're pretty common with regular old customer service reps spelling out anything over the phone.
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#449Earlier quoted context omitted.
Listening to the audio of the conversation, it doesn't seem like the passenger has no flying experience... At minimum they must have spent significant time around aviation or be ex-military. e: From another comment on Reddit > Examples: > The passenger knew what button to press on the yoke to transmit to ATC. > The passenger knew aviation phraseology and phonetics “333 Lima Delta”. > The passenger knew where the alti…
Where's the audio? TFA has very little of it. EDIT: Never mind. You can find it downthread.
Where? I can't find it.
Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
#450Earlier quoted context omitted.
Listening to the audio of the conversation, it doesn't seem like the passenger has no flying experience... At minimum they must have spent significant time around aviation or be ex-military. e: From another comment on Reddit > Examples: > The passenger knew what button to press on the yoke to transmit to ATC. > The passenger knew aviation phraseology and phonetics “333 Lima Delta”. > The passenger knew where the alti…
I lean towards aggreing with you. It’s possible he was prior military. I was an AE and worked on basically all of the flight systems in my eight years in the navy. The fact he knew phonetics just makes me believe he served or at the very least, was heavily exposed in another function.
> The fact he knew phonetics just makes me believe he served or at the very least, was heavily exposed in another function.
This is just one data point, but I'm a random software engineer with no military or aviation background or interests, and I know NATO phonetics. I think it's not that uncommon.
(My main use case is spelling things over the phone.)