Say you’re on a long 12-hour flight.
You’ll have get some shut-eye, and hopefully when you wake up, it’ll be almost landing
time.
Have you ever wondered if – and where – your flight attendants and pilot can get some rest
too?
That might lead you to wonder what other secrets your airplane is hiding!
1.
Sleeping Quarters Your pilot and flight attendants need some
rest on long flights too!
There are secret compartments above your head at both ends of the airplane where the pilot
and crew can squeeze a nap in!
Small stairs lead to these sleeping quarters behind the cockpit and at the back of the
plane, either behind a locked door or a hatch disguised as a storage bin.
There’s a bed, a phone, and curtains for privacy if needed.
The crew member can control the brightness in the compartment, and in bigger planes,
they’re even equipped with a TV.
2.
Secret Bathrooms and Showers for the Crew Not every crew rest cabin, or CRC, has this
feature, but they do on really big commercial planes, and some private planes.
This way, if they’re on an especially long flight, the flight attendants and pilot can
grab a shower and just have some privacy to freshen up.
3.
Secret Legroom Button If you have an aisle seat, there’s a button
under your armrest by the hinge that not many people know about!
If you press this button, the armrest will slide down completely parallel to your seat,
giving you some extra leg and elbow room!
It’s really there so that you can exit the plane more quickly if there’s an emergency,
but you can still press this handy little button to make yourself more comfortable.
4.
The Hiding Handrail Have you ever noticed how flight attendants
always seem to slide their hands over the overhead compartments as they walk the aisle
of the plane?
Most overhead compartments have edges on the bottoms into which a handrail is molded!
This helps them get a better grip and keep their balance!
This is how flight attendants look so graceful as they move quickly along the plane.
Try it for yourself on your next flight; plus, it’s much better than stumbling into other
passengers’ laps!
5.
Constraints What if there’s an unruly passenger disturbing
your flight?
I mean, you can’t exactly kick them out of the plane.
Although I’d pay extra to see that.
Just kidding.
So for these situations, every plane is equipped with handcuffs!
Hopefully using the handcuffs would calm the situation down, but if not, you might have
an unscheduled landing on your hands.
There are fire extinguishers on every flight too, which is standard safety…but did you
know that most flights also have an axe or crowbar on board??
This is for rare emergency landings, so the windows of the plane can be broken open.
6.
Undercover Safety Police Well, sort of.
I’m talking about air marshals!
They’re generally used for international flights.
Air marshals are basically the police of the airplane: they can make arrests, but they
won’t intervene in a standard “rowdy passenger” situation.
They’re mostly there to watch over the flight and keep everyone safe.
You’ll probably never figure out who the air marshal is though – they’ll be dressed
like any other passenger and could be seated anywhere.
They blend right in!
Except that big shiny badge and the cowboy hat… no not really.
7.
A Hidden Onboard Life Saver Since 2015, all U.S.-based commercial airlines
require a defibrillator to be on board every flight.
If a passenger goes into cardiac arrest during the flight, a defibrillator could save their
life!
It’s one of those things you may not think about, but are really grateful for when it’s
needed!
8.
Secret Bathroom Latch Sorry, but this one is only for the flight
crew!
If the flight attendants or pilot think that a passenger is doing something suspicious
in the bathroom, hmmm, they can use this handy little latch to lock the bathroom from the
outside.
Likewise, if the flight crew thinks that a passenger has been in the bathroom a little
too long and might be hurt or needs help, they can use this latch to unlock the bathroom.
This secret little lavatory latch is just there for safety reasons!
9.
Pilots Have Secret Powers I mean, pilots are kind of like Superman,
flying the skies…but that’s not the kind of superpower I’m talking about here.
If there’s an unruly or rule-breaking passenger, pilots can issue fines, and even make unofficial
arrests (remember those handcuffs?).
It’s best to just follow the rules and stay on the pilot’s good side!
10.
Untold Superstition This isn’t true for all planes, but pay
attention to the row numbers the next time you’re trying to find your seat for a flight.
People are so superstitious about the “unlucky” number 13, that some airlines have completely
removed this row number from the seats!
The row numbers on your plane may very well go from 12 to 14.
Making this move has been a cost-effective one for those airlines, because nervous passengers
just weren’t booking seats in row 13.
Superstitious or not, it’s interesting to think about!
By the way, Row 13 is now located at the back of the plane, outside on the tail.
It can get pretty windy back there so….
no it’s not.
11.
Invisible Defense Against Mother Nature So you’re flying along and all of a sudden,
your plane is caught in a thunderstorm!
Now, your plane’s unlikely to get struck by lightning in the first place, but if it
does, you probably won’t even know it!
The exteriors of airplanes are coated in lighting-resistant material.
If your plane is hit, the lighting will just slide along the surface until it has nowhere
else to go.
The outer layer of the plane won’t conduct any electricity from the lightning, so the
layers underneath aren’t affected, and everyone remains safe!
Except those folks back on the tail in Row 13…
12.
Tiny Overlooked Helpers No these aren’t the 7 dwarf s!
If you look closely, there are tiny yellow hooks on the wings of your plane.
No, they’re not for looks; this is where rope and the safety slide can be tied in case
of an emergency, so that passengers can get off.
The hooks ensure an even and sturdy slide.
Your flight attendant may mention the slide during the safety speech, but actually knowing
how and where it’s attached to the plane helps.
Little yellow hooks never looked so beautiful!
13.
A Path That Glows in the Dark In the event of a fire, things will get pretty
smoky and hard to see, since planes are such cramped spaces.
In the rare event that you’re in a fire on an airplane, all you have to do is look
down!
Airlines have started installing FPEEPMS, or Floor Proximity Emergency Escape Path Marking
Systems.
That’s a mouthful!
But these life-saving paths will glow brightly enough through the dark and thick smoke that
you can still see the way to the exit signs!
14.
Hidden Camera in the Cockpit Well, hidden to passengers, anyway.
There isn’t one on all planes; but if there’s a camera in the cockpit, the pilots are aware
of it.
Many pilots have protested it on the grounds that it invades their privacy.
But of course, it’s all for the pilots’ and passengers’ safety, in the unlikely
event that an unwelcome guest makes their way into the cockpit.
It also records all black-box and flight data, so that it can be looked at later for a variety
of reasons.
15.
Hidden Masks No not Guy Fawkes.
There’re Gas masks.
In the rare event of a fire, the crew are entrusted with staying calm, collected, and
doing what they can to put the fire out.
The gas masks are for the flight attendants so that they can see and breathe enough in
order to put out the flames and take care of passengers if necessary.
The gas masks also enable the flight attendants to stay mobile during a fire; if an emergency
landing is called for, they’ll be able to get passengers out of the plane much more
efficiently.
16.
Secretly Safe Seats They’re not exactly secret, because you’re
sitting right on them!
Yes, your airplane seat is fireproof!
The Federal Aviation Administration, along with NASA, has done extensive tests on flame-resistant
materials and cushioning to find the safest seats for airlines.
Nowadays, there are even flame-proof tests that your seat has to pass!
So the next time you want to complain about the uncomfortable seating on your flight,
remember that your seat could save your life!
17.
Covert Communication Ooh, should we whisper?
The flight attendants, and especially those in the cockpit, are constantly communicating.
The captain and co-pilot stay in communication through the whole flight.
There may also be a flight engineer, or second officer, on board, who’ll be making all
the important calculations as far as the best landing position and other complicated stuff
that has to do with the equipment the pilot is using.
The pilot is also always in communication with air traffic control.
That’s a lot of talking, but keeping everyone on the same page is the safest bet.
“Breaker 19.
That’s a big 10-4 good buddy.
See you on the flip flop, and remember to keep the dirty side down and the shiny side
up!”
What?
That’s not pilots talking.
Hey if you have any idea what I just said, leave it in the comments!
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