There’s so much going on in airports and on board the planes that you don’t need
to bother learning it all.
But there are things you do want to know — yet no one will tell you about them.
Here are some of those secrets.
1.
Most airports have this big folding corridor that you walk from the building to the aircraft,
but some still have buses in their service.
And even though the distance is not that big, you have to cram into them instead of walking.
That’s simply because ground crew don’t want you to wander around the airfield.
You can distract the workers, or worse, get in big trouble when a nearby engine starts.
Speaking of which…
2.
If you get off the bus and step away too much, the ground crew might ask you not to walk
under the airplane wings.
There are two reasons for that: first, the wings of a passenger plane are quite close
to the ground, and you can hit your head on them if you’re inattentive; and second,
again, if an engine starts and you’re close by, you just might be wooshed into the turbine.
Trust me, after that, you’d have peace of mind.
Also, piece of arm, piece of leg—you get the picture.
3.
Some safety rules that don’t make sense to you leave the crew none the wiser.
For example, many pilots don’t get the idea behind allowing flight attendants to walk
around the aircraft at the cruising altitude.
The airplane is hurtling forward at the speed of hundreds of miles per hour — how in the
world is that safe?
At the same time, when the plane is only about to take off and moving at a snail’s pace,
they have to be strapped in their seats for some reason.
4.
If you were ever worried about how the pilots find their way in the dark when landing at
night, you can rest easy now.
There’s an incredibly complex illumination system on the ground that helps the crew navigate
the airplane, and it’s not just the red and white lights along the runway.
The lights actually start popping up long before the runway so that the pilots could
easily find their way, and different patterns mean different things, which your captain
and co-pilot know by heart.
5.
The hardest and most dangerous part of any flight is landing.
So much so, in fact, that all commercial planes will tell the pilots to decide whether it’s
okay to land.
And the airplane literally says it out loud!
It’s called a ‘decision altitude’ — a point of no return when the crew has to make
a choice: either to land the aircraft or to go up and make another circle around the airport.
Any lower, and there would be no going back.
6.
Let’s admit: even when the “Fasten your seatbelts” sign is on, many of us pretty
much ignore it during the flight.
Most of the time, although you still do it at your own risk, that doesn’t have any
consequences.
But you’d better pay attention and buckle up when the captain tells the flight attendants
to take their seats — it means the plane is about to hit some really nasty turbulence.
7.
There’s a reason you won’t ever see an elderly person or a child in the emergency
exit row.
If an emergency does occur, the passenger sitting closest to the exit might have to
open the door for the rest of the people on board.
While there’s still time before the takeoff, the flight attendants will approach the passengers
in the emergency exit row and instruct them on what to do if they’re unable to do it
themselves.
So those passengers have to be able-bodied adults.
8.
Ever wondered why they ask you to keep your seat back upright upon takeoff and landing?
That’s because if you lean back, you might block the passenger right behind you, and
in case of emergency they’ll have a much harder time evacuating.
Apart from that, it’s always good form to ask the person behind you if they’re okay
with you leaning back.
After all, they might be working on a laptop or just have long legs, and you might cause
a lot of inconvenience by being inattentive.
Never mind the fact that the airline has assigned you both in the Sardine section, packed in
so tightly that neither of you has any wiggle room, but that’s something for another video.
9.
When a flight attendant offers you a drink, you want to avoid carbonated ones.
You see, carbon dioxide stimulates intestinal gas production — plainly speaking, you’ll
probably experience bloating and overall discomfort.
Sometimes it even causes nausea.
Opt for plain water or juice instead.
And on that note…
10.
Tea and coffee may also be risky beverages.
Regulations require that water be taken from secure sources, but not all airlines follow
this rule and simply boil tap water.
Even boiled, though, it can contain some harmful bacteria, and if you drink tea or coffee made
with such water, don’t be surprised with some unpleasant after effects.
11.
This isn’t about airplanes, but still: you might have seen in the movies how people getting
off a helicopter bow down?
They presumably avoid hitting the rotating blades with their head, but in reality it’s
not necessary.
Even the tallest person won’t be able to get into such a trouble.
This is just our intuitive reaction to something being over our head — we do the same in
a room with a low ceiling, even though we know we can’t possibly hit our noggin on
it.
So it’s not something to lose your head over…
12.
If you’ve flown with different airlines, you might have noticed that some of them require
passengers to board in different ways.
In fact, there are several official boarding methods, each used by different airlines.
The most common one — and, ironically, the least effective — is the rear-to-front method,
where passengers take their seats starting from the back of the airplane and gradually
moving towards the front.
The most efficient method, taking on average about 10 minutes less, is the random seating,
when passengers don’t have seat assignments — basically, that’s a free-for-all.
13.
If you ever fancied taking a free ride aboard a plane by hiding in some inconspicuous corner,
ditch that thought.
Airplanes go through a very thorough check before every flight, and there are literally
no secret hiding places anyone could use.
Of course, there are rest areas for the cabin crew, but their name says everything about
them.
14.
First thing that gets started on an airplane is not the engines — it’s the APU, or
the auxiliary power unit.
It’s a small additional engine located in the tail of the airplane that kickstarts the
electrical systems and bleeds air for the engines and air conditioning inside the cabin.
It uses up the plane’s fuel, though, so in many airports the APU is replaced by ground
systems that power the planes.
15.
You’ve surely noticed how much louder the airplane becomes when it’s landing.
You might think it’s the engines, but in reality that’s the reverse thrusters being
deployed.
They’re necessary to create additional force against the direction of the airplane.
If they’re not used, the plane might not stop in time and crash into another aircraft
or the airport fence, which is something to avoid if you can.
They do add to the noise, though.
16.
On average, flights are becoming slower and slower with each decade.
Today, for example, a flight from New York to Chicago would take about 20 minutes longer
than it did in the mid-90s.
The reason is as simple as always: money.
The cost of fuel is constantly rising, so in order to avoid drastic ticket price spikes,
airlines decided to make air travels a bit slower to save fuel.
It’s no secret that the faster the plane flies, the more fuel it consumes, so this
measure has been quite effective.
I wonder if the speed ever drops below the line where it would be faster to go by car,
though.
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