craigkocurNov 6
MostlyHarmless
Recently learned that 50% of men surveyed believe they could land a commercial aircraft in an emergency, and knowing this has helped me understand a lot of the emails I get at work.
Nov 6 at 11:25pmWeb
Show threadHermey GNov 6
@MostlyHarmless
This dates back to successful balsa plane landings during early childhood 👍
Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himNov 6

@MostlyHarmless

I mean, you get on the radio and follow instructions

Show threadMark CrockerNov 7

@TeflonTrout @MostlyHarmless ... but check to see it you're in a movie first. 🤣

The same logic applies to going down into a dark basement 😉

Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himNov 7

@mcrocker @MostlyHarmless

Hey now, there's a whole procedure for talking down an untrained person like this in an emergency. Honestly, it's easier to land a jet airliner than a small private plane. It's mostly automated, and what isn't is what the ATC folks will talk you through

Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himNov 7
@mcrocker @MostlyHarmless not just blowing smoke, I lived with air traffic controllers during my own training in Ft. Rucker
Show threadBob Blaskiewicz 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱Nov 7
@TeflonTrout @mcrocker @MostlyHarmless The Mythbusters did it. Crashed and burned in the simulator without help, and were successfully talked down the second time through.
Show threadMans RNov 7

@rjblaskiewicz @TeflonTrout @mcrocker @MostlyHarmless It does occasionally happen.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-passenger-lands-plane/index.html

A passenger with no flying experience landed a plane at a Florida airport after the pilot became incapacitated

“I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”

CNN
Show threadNeo EhproqueNov 7
@mansr @rjblaskiewicz @TeflonTrout @mcrocker @MostlyHarmless unexpected Florida Man
Show threadalejandroNov 11
@rjblaskiewicz would that count as 50%? 😜
Show threadAlan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏Nov 7
@TeflonTrout @mcrocker @MostlyHarmless There you go, clouding a perfectly good joke with facts. Landing something like a Cessna? No thanks. Give me an Airbus every time.
Show threadMarcos DioneNov 7
@TeflonTrout @mcrocker @MostlyHarmless I don't know how they do it, but having been instructed to try and fail to navigate a fairly complex UI via Zoom or equivalent, I'm pretty sure they either have very detailed instructions (and possibly less UI elements, see image), or the failure rate is higher than we think and they never talk about it publicly.
Show threadBen AvelingNov 7
And you hope the first instruction is: turn on autopilot.
But to backtrack, does anyone here knows how to turn on this radio?
@TeflonTrout @MostlyHarmless
Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himNov 7
@BenAveling @MostlyHarmless you joke, but that is actually 100% correct. ATC will talk you through how to set the autopilot up for landing, and as for the radio, it'll already be tuned to a useful frequency. Theres a transmit key labeled in a couple of common places, usually on the flight yoke, and often a backup on the headset
Show threadbouriquetNov 7
@TeflonTrout @BenAveling @MostlyHarmless That assumes the radio is tuned to a frequency in-range and what flight phase the emergency occurs. Pushing the wrong button on the yoke (if not a sidestick control) can disconnect autopilot. ATC controller would need to find a pilot familiar with that aircraft to provide instructions. Enroute ATC facilities are not near airport control towers also. Best case might be a larger plane with autoland capability
Show threadDepressed Goblin Nightmare ManNov 7
@TeflonTrout @MostlyHarmless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGRcJQ9tMbY
Air Traffic Control - SNL

YouTube
Show threadLeelooNov 7

@TeflonTrout @MostlyHarmless
Tom Scott did. He wasn't successful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbTDzPUDxqY&t=1575

To be fair, in the other video, where he was just telling the autopilot what to do, he did succeed.

I'm not a pilot. Can I land a 737?

YouTube
Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himNov 7

@leeloo @MostlyHarmless

Also, this is a question of previous experience. I've lived aviation my whole life, am a licensed drone operator and can read sectional charts, and have spent thousands of hours in flight simulators. I was answering from my own pov

Show threadtuban_muzuruNov 7

@MostlyHarmless

Most big passenger aircraft have CAT III autoland capability. But the airport must be equipped with autoland ILS.

Show threadFediThing Nov 7

@tuban_muzuru @MostlyHarmless

There's a good Mentour Pilot episode where he tries to talk Tom Scott down to land in a simulator. Even with autoland Scott needs help activating it, and without autoland he crashes. There's no way he could have done it either way without being told what to do.

Show threadDavid ZaslavskyNov 7
@FediThing @tuban_muzuru @MostlyHarmless I was just thinking of that, it's a great episode! IIRC the crash in the non-autopilot run technically counted as a crash because the plane didn't come down on the runway, but it was on the taxiway or the adjacent grass or something, so it might have been survivable depending on how much stuff was in the way. Way better than plunging nose-first into the ground, at any rate!
Show threadFuture SprogNov 7

Did the survey question wording mention anything about "successfully" and "without everyone dying"?

Because I could 100% land a commercial aircraft in an emergency.

@MostlyHarmless

Show threadpixxNov 7

@futuresprog @MostlyHarmless @catsalad

This is absolutely my interpretation as well.

They're called DAD jokes for a reason, what portion of men are dads? 🤔

Show threadFediThing Nov 7

@MostlyHarmless

"How hard can it be? It's not like pilots have to go through years of intensive training..."

Show threadRadiative MagpieNov 7
@MostlyHarmless I believe I could because I've flown flight sims. The hard part would be wind and figuring out the controls for landing gear. Depends upon how dire the emergency is I guess... Maybe a 40% success rate... Not great, but better than 0...
Show threadNo WayNov 7
@MostlyHarmless my years of GTA online training and the one hour real world flying lessen tells me that in an emergency... Imma gonna crash that plane.
Show threadAlan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless Wait. Is that just land, or is it land successfully, like in one piece and stuff? Cause yeah, if it's just the first bit, then 100% no problem.
Show threadRyanNov 7
@MostlyHarmless I smell a reality TV show premise...
Show threadlonely extrovertNov 7
@yantor3d @MostlyHarmless yes, oh yes...
Show threadskribe 🇺🇦 Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless I probably could have given it a fair shake 15 years ago. I played a lot of realistic flight sims. Now, probably not.
Show threadR.L. Dane    🍵 Nov 7

@MostlyHarmless

lol this snark absolutely cuts to the quick

Show threadEwen Bell 📸Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless

Well, I'd definitely get in back on the ground. Just depends how you define "landing".
Show threadIan K TindaleNov 7
@ewen @MostlyHarmless
“…but this guy has no flying experience at all. He's a menace to himself and everything else in the air... yes, birds too.”
– Airplane (1980)
Show threadFlaming CheetoNov 7
@MostlyHarmless maybe, maybe not. Either way they'd have to replace my seat
Show threadRobert Kist 🇦🇹🇸🇬Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless a good amount also think they could fight a chimp and win
Show threadEoinNov 7
@kwramm See also "I could have been a professional athlete" or "I am a fantastic driver"
Show threadshironekoNov 7
@MostlyHarmless I don't think that's unrealistic if someone is instructing over the radio and conditions are otherwise calm. isn't there cases where people have done it?
Show threadLisPiNov 7

@shironeko @MostlyHarmless There have been cases of exactly this.

Doing so without instructions is a very different problem.

Note that none of the listed entries are large commercial aircraft. Which doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't work, but that present precautions have presumably sufficed (or that everyone died long before it came up).

Talk-down aircraft landing - Wikipedia

Show threadMarty FoutsNov 7

@MostlyHarmless There are a handful of commercial aircraft types that I might be able to land in an emergency provided that the person on the ground talking me through the landing was very articulate. But this is only because their controls are very similar to general aviation planes that I have landed and they are suitable for single pilot landing.

If there was no alternative I would attempt to land others but would expect to fail spectacularly, especially jets.

Show threadMaria JordanNov 7
@MostlyHarmless When I took a flying class, I crashed the simulator 11 times before I finally landed it on a nearby pasture. Surprised those cows! My instructor called it good and said that everyone walked away. The first time I flew an actual plane, I panicked as it started to slowly descend into Lake Michigan while the actual pilot sat there amused. So, I'm not likely going to be the one landing a commercial airplane.
Show threadlonely extrovertNov 7
@MostlyHarmless i love all the reply guys here.
Show threadBernNov 7
@rothko @MostlyHarmless Yup, we're just brimming with confidence... 😉
(having flown a 737 simulator, I'm fairly confident I could line up with the runway, but without someone on the radio explaining everything else to do... well, it'd be better to try than not, but I'd be really wishing there was an actual pilot on board!)
Show threadTired SpongeNov 7
@MostlyHarmless I believe that I could land something like a Cessna in a pinch after decades of flight sim, but a passenger jet, yeah, we're all dead.
Show threadStuart Longland (VK4MSL)Nov 7

@MostlyHarmless I am 100% confident I can get a commercial airliner to the ground.

I'm about 0.001% that anyone will be walking away from the resulting wreckage.

Show threadJuliet (Ryel), Rollerskating Elf 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless Just because it's called a cockpit...
Show threadDepressed Goblin Nightmare ManNov 7

@MostlyHarmless Wow! Check out the breakdown by party affiliation (not what I expected, not that I understand humans, and if I missed it already in unfederated replies, apologies) :

https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2023/01/02/fd798/3

Show threadDavid ZaslavskyNov 7
@InarticulateOtter @MostlyHarmless ooh that is interesting indeed
Show threadPeteNov 7
@MostlyHarmless back in the 1970s (yes I’m that old) I had about 7 hour’s instruction in a Piper Cub. This year I was treated to an hour’s instruction in a full-blown 737 flight simulator.
I can tell you, the 737 was easier to fly than the Cub! Except that I apparently retained my Cub flying experience because I kept trying to do with the controls what the 737 was trying to do automatically.
But all this is a diversion from your point. We DO tend to think we are experts because we saw a video!
Show threadxyhhx 🔻Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless I actually did a flight simulator at a pilot academy once and I *did* land it
Show threadAleksei☃️Nov 7
@xyhhx @MostlyHarmless Mythbusters and Peter Hörnfeldt with Tom Scott also did that successfully. One would need to contact the ground though, which isn't trivial at all.
Show threadxyhhx 🔻Nov 7
@placebo @MostlyHarmless yeah don't get me wrong, if we're in an emergency and u put me in the cockpit we're fucked lol
Show threadtor_haxsonNov 7

@MostlyHarmless

"someone has to land these planes"

Seriously, that is how I sum up my job duties ♂️♂️♂️

Show threadFunHouse RadioNov 7
@MostlyHarmless
https://youtu.be/2KcOs70dZAw
David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging (Official Video)

YouTube
Show threadViraptorNov 7
@MostlyHarmless
I crashed my model planes a lot of times. But I'm sure the only problem was that they weren't big and commercial enough. Surely this time it will work.
Show threadTijgertje1987Nov 7

@MostlyHarmless
I’m not a guy but I’m certain it can happen if:

1) it is a commercial plane with autoland function
2) there is nothing wrong with the plane with plenty of fuel
3) most important: I get the radio to work for atc to talk me down

I know from myself that to it takes a lot to unease me. And I’m roughly familiar with the main controls of an airplane.

But take one of those 3 away and nope: that plane is gonna crash.

Show thread�Nov 7

@MostlyHarmless i am pretty sure i am also able to do.

also your definitions of landing...well, perhaps the speed that thing comes down from the sky is somehow different from my definition

Show thread⁂ Fish Id WardrobeNov 7

@MostlyHarmless for me, it would depend on the emergency, and the plane.

i probably couldn't land the plane if the pilots were okay; they wouldn't let me.

i probably couldn't land a plane I wasn't on.

Show threadJames Fields Nov 7
@MostlyHarmless I’m one of them! Of course I’m a private pilot, so I have some basis for saying it, but as such i also know it’s far more complicated than the small planes I’ve flown.
Show threadDavid Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Nov 7

@jfslicer @MostlyHarmless

It's worse than that. If you've flown light aircraft you are less likely than average to be able to land a commercial jet than someone with no experience. A lot of what you learn when flying big aircraft is unlearning things you learned on small planes. You have spent years building up reflex responses to conditions that will get you killed if you respond that way when flying a jetliner.

Show threadm_on_stairNov 7
@david_chisnall @jfslicer @MostlyHarmless
i understand the argument but surely its better than having no exp
Show threadJames Fields Nov 8

@m @MostlyHarmless @david_chisnall Yeah, David is wrong.

The University of North Dakota ran a test a few years ago. Most failed, but those that succeeded were a private pilot, a commercial pilot, and a flight sim enthusiast. Showing that some skill is far better than no skill.

https://archive.is/20230523055107/https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/05/20/passengers-try-landing-plane-flight-simulator#selection-1781.30-1781.34