Trending Now
It’s not the pilots are necessarily a secretive group, but airlines do seem to do their best to keep their direct interactions with customers minimal (and on their terms).
I’m not sure why exactly that is, though I imagine both safety and the lack of a desire to answer a million questions both come into play.
If you’re curious about what goes on in the cockpit, though – the good, the bad, the funny – these 18 pilots are getting real about all of the stuff you usually won’t see and hear.
18. The bottom line makes some pilots nervous.
Airlines are always looking at the bottom line, and you burn fuel carrying fuel.
Sometimes if you carry just enough fuel and you hit thunderstorms or delays, then suddenly you’re running out of gas and you have to go to an alternate airport.
—Captain at a major airline
17. Lightning might strike the same place twice.
Most pilots have. Airplanes are built to take it.
You hear a big boom and see a big flash and that’s it.
You’re not going to fall out of the sky.
—Airplane pilot for a regional carrier, Charlotte, North Carolina.
16. They go out of their way not to scare you.
What they’ll say instead: “One of our engines is indicating improperly.” (Or more likely, they’ll say nothing, and you’ll never know the difference. Most planes fly fine with one engine down.)
You’ll also never hear, “Well, folks, the visibility out there is zero.”
Instead they’ll say: “There’s some fog in the Washington area.”
15. If you’re cold, choose a seat in the back.
The general flow of air in any airplane is from front to back. So if you’re really concerned about breathing the freshest possible air or not getting too hot, sit as close to the front as you can. Planes are generally warmest in the back.—Tech pilot at a regional airline, Texas.
14. Pilots aren’t always at their best.
Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break.
That’s many more hours than a truck driver.
And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can’t pull over at the next cloud.—Captain at a major airline
13. You don’t need to worry about turbulence.
Pilots find it perplexing that so many people are afraid of turbulence.
It’s all but impossible for turbulence to cause a crash.
We avoid turbulence not because we’re afraid the wing is going to fall off but because it’s annoying.
—Patrick Smith.
12. It’s the updrafts that should scare you.
A plane flies into a massive updraft, which you can’t see on the radar at night, and it’s like hitting a giant speed bump at 500 miles an hour. It throws everything up in the air and then down very violently.
That’s not the same as turbulence, which bounces everyone around for a while.
—John Nance, aviation safety analyst and retired airline captain, Seattle.
11. Follow the rules. Please.
We don’t make you stow your laptop because we’re worried about interference. It’s about having a projectile on your lap.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get hit in the head by a MacBook going 200 miles per hour.
And we’re not trying to ruin your fun by making you take off your headphones. We just want you to be able to hear us if there’s an emergency.
—Patrick Smith
10. But we know some rules don’t make sense.
Like the fact that when we’re at 39,000 feet going 400 miles an hour, in a plane that could hit turbulence at any minute, (flight attendants) can walk around and serve hot coffee and Chateaubriand.
But when we’re on the ground on a flat piece of asphalt going five to ten miles an hour, they’ve got to be buckled in like they’re at NASCAR.
—Jack Stephan, US Airways captain based in Annapolis, Maryland, who has been flying since 1984.
9. Morning is the best time for nervous fliers.
The heating of the ground later causes bumpier air, and it’s much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon.
—Jerry Johnson, airplane pilot, Los Angeles.
8. Water landings aren’t really a thing.
It’s called crashing into the ocean.
—Airplane pilot, South Carolina.
7. There is a real reason you can’t use your phone.
Well, what can happen is 12 people will decide to call someone just before landing, and I can get a false reading on my instruments saying that we are higher than we really are.
—Jim Tilmon, retired American Airlines pilot, Phoenix
6. The planes are not the cleanest.
Always assume that the tray table and the button to push the seat back have not been wiped down, though we do wipe down the lavatory.—Patrick Smith.
5. For a smooth ride, sit near the wings.
The bumpiest place to sit is in the back.
A plane is like a seesaw.
If you’re in the middle, you don’t move as much.
—Patrick Smith, airplane pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential.
4. If they order the flight attendants to buckle up, things are about to get dicey.
But if he tells the flight attendants to sit down, you’d better listen. That means there’s some serious turbulence ahead.
—John Greaves
3. They do cheat the clock.
No, it’s not your imagination: Airlines really have adjusted their flight arrival times so they can have a better record of on-time arrivals.
So they might say a flight takes two hours when it really takes an hour and 45 minutes.
—AirTran Airways captain, Atlanta
2. Because nothing is more important than running on time.
The Department of Transportation has put such an emphasis on on-time performance that we pretty much aren’t allowed to delay a flight anymore, even if there are 20 people on a connecting flight that’s coming in just a little late.
—Commercial pilot, Charlotte, North Carolina
1. You’re safer on a plane than in your car.
People always ask, “What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you?”
I tell them it was a van ride from the Los Angeles airport to the hotel, and I’m not kidding.
—Jack Stephan.
I’m utterly fascinated, and I have pilots in the family!
What would you ask your pilot if you could? Tell us in the comments!
