Facts About Flying that May Frighten
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An article recently completed by Viral Quake compiled submissions to Reddit from various flight attendants and pilots. Some of the truths they revealed serve as excellent tips and recommendations to consider before traveling in the future.
Amenities provided by airlines aren’t always what they appear. Water, in particular, was a touchy subject in the article. Customers should not drink any water on a plane, unless they see it come directly out of a bottle. Even the water used for brewing tea and coffee isn’t safe, as one attendant claims it is particularly filthy. Along similar lines, the water in the bathroom is not for drinking. Attendants often clean the water tank, but parasites tend to become immune to their cleaners over time. The bathroom should also not be considered a secure location. Most on-flight restrooms have a hidden latch under the no smoking sign that allows the door to be unlocked from the outside. The dimming of the lights upon landing is thought of as a calming gesture. However, when landing at night, it is completed to acclimate the passenger’s eyes to the dark surroundings, in case an emergency evacuation is needed.
The power of the pilots and the precautions taken around them are also numbered in the article. Once the door is closed, the pilot holds entire authority over those on board. The pilot can refuse to let someone on the plane, arrest people, write fines and take on the will of a dying passenger. But not everything about this job is the pull of authority; a claim is made that fifty percent of pilots doze during the duration of the flight. Beyond this, one third of sleeping pilots will wake up to find their partner also asleep. Precautions are also taken to insure the safety of the flight; two pilots are never served the same meal and they are not allowed to share, to prevent any issues that could result from food poisoning.
The focus of the article is primarily on emergency protocols and some of the close calls planes can see on a daily basis. The oxygen masks that fall hold no more than fifteen minutes of oxygen in their capacity. However, the article does denote that this is more than enough time for the pilot to descend. Often, passengers will assume rough landings in bad weather are an unintentional result of the environment. The article claims that pilots often have to seek a rough landing, in order to produce an appropriate amount of friction to keep the landing safe. The issue of turning off electronics baffles plenty of consumers who travel. While this is not a necessity, if a majority of the passengers keep their devices on, it can cause interference with communication and cause the pilot to miss their clearance to land. Most airplane accidents occur at landing or take off. This is because a plane has the ability to glide for forty-two miles without any power, should something go wrong with the engine. Finally, in a hijacking situation, pilots will leave the wing flaps that slow the plane down inclined to flag the airport that something has gone wrong on the plane.
from Wheels Up! http://ift.tt/1kKPJTZ