25 Airplane Small Details You Haven't Noticed Yet

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Hey, can we speak plainly?

Okay, the fastest commercial flight ever was in February 2019 when an airplane flew

at the speed of 800 one miles per hour, and that was only thanks to the direction

it was heading in east, and the passengers there also rapidly lost weight.

What?

The airplane diet?

Is that a thing?

All in due time, though, here are some mind blowing facts about airplanes.

First things first, according to different sources, only 5% to 20% of the world's population

have ever traveled by airplane, but all of them have done it more than once.

If you're afraid of flying, you must have wondered why planes don't have parachutes

on board, two reasons, money, and common sense.

First parachutes are heavy, and adding 300 something of them to the weight of the plane

would reduce the allowed number of passengers or their baggage, and secondly, even if you

have a parachute, you simply won't be able to open the airplane's door to jump out, the

difference in pressure is too much.

Not, there's good news too.

Some data suggest that sitting in the back of the plane is safer than anywhere else.

If you're in the tail, here are about 40% more likely to survive in a plane crash.

So stick to the back.

The only reason you might regret it is, if one of your neighbors in the row is sick,

not air sick, although that's unfortunate too.

I mean, running nose, coughing, that kind of stuff.

Contrary to passenger, has an 80% chance of infecting everyone around them with whatever

they have.

To minimize that risk, turn on the little air vent above your head and direct its flow

on yourself.

It will work as an air shield, flowing away the germs and not letting them cling to you.

Hey, wouldn't it be great if you could buy a cheap little hazmat suit from the flight

attended during the trip?

Oh, but then, you have to crawl into the thing while in that cramp little seat, as

your seatmates wonder which one of them you're missing.

Hmm, guess not, huh?

But don't be in a rest to blame your coughing neighbor if you get sick after the flight.

Ask yourself first, did you take the blanket from the flight attendant?

If so, you might have caught germs from that.

Airplane crew members say they only wash blankets once every few days, and the rest of the

time they only get folded and reused.

Who knows who used yours before you, and for what?

Yuck.

Unlike the cabin doors, the bathroom actually can be open from the outside.

There's a hidden latch that allows flight attendants to unlock the door in case of emergency.

For example, to rescue a passenger who faded inside.

No, they don't do it for fun.

Ever heard that banging noise when coming on or exiting the plane?

Nah, it's not the ground crew hurriedly repairing the plane.

That's just the baggage being loaded or unloaded.

Workers don't really throw it around either, but they usually have very little time to

be too gentle.

If you fly, say, from New York to London, and not the other way around, consider yourself

lucky.

You'll probably be there a couple hours early, and that's true for many planes flying

easy.

Nature itself helps them.

There are jet streams high up that if used correctly, give a hefty speed boost to aircraft.

The jet streams are basically constant high speed streams of air that carry you eastward

on their gentle wings.

Ah.

Then you arrive early, and there's no gate for you yet.

So your plane sits on the tarmac, waiting.

You also might want to step on the scales while traveling with the jet stream, because

they'll probably show a rather pleasing number.

Thanks to the EOVOS effect, perceived force of gravity is less when you're moving east, which

means you weigh a tiny bit less too.

The bad news is, as soon as the plane lands and stops, the pounds will come back.

Thanks to international airspace agreements, planes flying from the U.S. to far and middle

leads travel over the North Pole, and you can see it's stunning icy landscapes, pretty

close.

That's because airplane fuel freezes at temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the aircraft

needs to get much lower than its cruising altitude for warmer air.

Make sure to get a window seat.

Another sightseeing tour happens when your plane suddenly decides to not land straight

away, but make a circle around the airport.

This gonna occur when there's something on the runway, or the wind is too strong, or there's

just a heavy traffic envelope.

Yeah, airplanes also have traffic jams.

So look outside and enjoy the panorama.

That is, if there is a window near your roll.

Originally, planes were designed to have seat rows aligned with the windows, but to squeeze

more people inside the cabin and make tickets cheaper.

Most airlines decrease the gap between the rows in the economy class, so your window

seat should be more properly called a wall seat.

Now if you want to complain about that, you can come up to the pilot yourself.

Just make sure you know the code from the cockpit door.

In fact, no one can enter the cockpit without the pilot say so.

And if you have the code, the door will only open after about half a minute.

And that's if the pilots don't react.

They can deny entrance by simply pressing a button.

But let's imagine you've somehow gotten inside the cockpit, and the pilots are not there.

Uh oh.

Can a regular person land a plane in such a situation like they show in the movies?

Sorry, highly unlikely.

Still, if the plane is modern, all its systems are intact, and there's at least one flight

attendant on board, they might be able to land the aircraft following the instructions

from air traffic control.

Wait a second, there's an autopilot in there.

Can it land the plane by itself?

Hmm, no good there either.

Even more, the autopilot doesn't even fly the plane proper.

It's basically just a super advanced GPS that's only taken into account the plane's route

and surroundings.

It can keep the machine in the air, but any complex action is a human pilot's responsibility.

That's why autopilot can only take control at the cruising altitude, which is usually

around 36,000 feet.

Plains have to fly so high to reduce air resistance, because it's drag and reduces efficiency

of the engines.

It shouldn't climb too high though, because it will eventually lose lift and drop down,

as they say.

Speaking about control, the pilot is actually in charge of everything during the flight.

Their level of responsibility is enormous, so they're both law and its enforcers on board.

They even have handcuffs to tame unreliable passengers, so behave well, yeah?

So that you understand what kind of responsibility is in the pilot's hands?

A Boeing 747 airplane consists of numerous parts, like about 6 million of them.

Just imagine navigating this kind of complex machinery with just a couple of buttons and

levers, no wonder pilot has to go through rigorous and lengthy training before being allowed

in the cockpit.

Even their oxygen mass are different from those in the cabin.

While a regular passenger mass only has enough oxygen for 12 to 15 minutes, the one in

the cockpit is designed to last much longer, that's because of that same huge responsibility.

Pilots have to stay awake and focus to save all those lives on board at all costs.

And if you think smaller private planes are safer than big commercial ones, that's a myth.

According to statistics, passenger airplanes are more than twice safer than private ones,

exactly because of the amount of rules and regulations imposed on them.

Pilots follow strict schedules and are trained professionals, while private planes are often

flown by amateurs.

On the topic of amateurs, some believe that hard landing on water should be safer than on

the ground.

But that's not true either.

Pilots even say that they try to avoid landing on the water, is called ditching by all

means.

Because of its structure, water is actually harder than soft ground at the moment of impact.

And when the plane falls, it'll probably be filled with water very soon.

The crew has to act really quickly to get everyone to safety after such a crash landing.

And crash landings are exactly the reason why you have to stow your tray table and get

your seat in the upright position.

In case of a hard impact, an open tray may injure you, and if your seat is refined, your

head will travel along your distance to the seat in front of you, increasing the risk

of head trauma.

It's for your own safety pal.

But at least you'll enjoy the pleasant blue color of that seat.

It's made so to calm you down.

Psychologists say the color blue helps you relax.

If the seats were red, for example, it could have gotten on your nerves and made those

who are afraid of flying, even more jittery.

And finally, the most important question.

When are those mysterious numbers on your boarding pass?

Your name, gate, and flight number?

Okay, that's clear.

There's a six letter passenger name reference or record locator.

It's randomly generated for you personally, and gives access to your passenger data to

authorities.

And then there's a standalone letter depicting your class, A or F for first, Y for economy,

and Q for economy discounted flight.