First of all pilot training is very rigorous. The FAA sets an outline for standardization of training. Most airlines before hiring require a bachelors degree as well as a minimum of 2,500 hours total time of flying experience, this is just time that you are in the air. 1,000 of those hours must be as a captain in a jet. There are at least 6 FAA licenses a pilot must earn to get to this point. Usually it takes as long as earning a Phd Degree to get to this point. During hiring the pilot is tested on every aspect of the mechanics of an airplane, the FAA regulations and his ability to fly safely. Once you are hired every 6 months you must complete a medical exam that covers a urine test, vision test, reflex test, EKG, hearing, and various other things. Also every 6 months pilots must complete training in a simulator for emergency operations, if they perform poorly they are usually fired.

Turbulence

When an airplane encounters turbulence it should be viewed the same way as going over potholes in a car. Turbulence is caused mainly by two things: Heat from the surface of the Earth rises up creating thermals, since this air is rising when an airplane goes over it it rises the airplane up; the other cause is changes in wind speed or direction, at a typical altitude of 35,000 feet winds can be as strong as 100 miles per hour, this is unnoticeable by passengers until all of a sudden the wind changes speed or direction creating turbulence. Turbulence does not cause an aircraft to stop flying it is just a disturbance in the air like a pothole in the road. When an airplanes wings shake it is acting like your suspension or shocks on your car as well, wings are designed to flex in order to absorb the energy created by turbulence, making your ride smoother, just like a cars shocks. If the wings did not flex the whole airplane would move up or down at the same speed as the wing creating a bumpier ride. During initial testing at the manufacturers factory the test models airplanes wings are flexed upwards by cables, usually the wings have to be flexed upwards at a 60 degree angle or more in order to snap off, just think about that for a while.

Flaps

When an airplane takes off it usually has some flaps down, those are the big pieces of metal that extend down on the back side of the wing. After takeoff the flaps are brought up. Flaps actually create more lift for an airplane so the more flaps that are down the more lift you have. Flaps also create drag because the air cannot flow smoothly around the wing. Using flaps on takeoff allows for the airplane to get airborne faster. Once climbing out when the flaps are brought up the lift is being taken away and passengers night momentarily feel a sinking sensation as the lift is being lost. Don't worry, not all lift is lost the airplanes forward movement creates way more lift than the lift that is being lost by flaps so it should be mostly unnoticeable. Likewise, on landing flaps are used so that the plane has more lift allowing it to fly at a slower speed while still having the same amount of lift as fast speed. When the flaps are extended down you are gaining lift and passengers might feel the airplane rising slightly.

Noises

When landing gear is extended there is usually a loud sound of rushing air. This is because this large protrusion of metal and rubber is being extended into the airflow and now the air must move around it quickly. The gear also makes a thudding sound when extended and retracted; this happens because the gear is on a motor that brings the gear up and down at a continuous speed. The gear comes inside the airplane at a constant speed, it doesn't slow down as it gets closer so the gear motor only knows to turn off when the gear hits the inside of its storage area. That thudding is just the gear hitting its storage area which engages a switch that turns off its motor

A very common misconception is that when an airplane loses an engine it will fall out of the sky. This is simply not true. Birds do not have engines they just have wings and they still fly around right? Engines just provide the means of pushing the aircraft forward for speed, wings provide the means of supporting the airplane in the air. When an engine is lost the airplane can still glide like a bird down to the ground. If you are at 35,000 feet you have probably a 75 mile radius of gliding distance depending on the airplane. This should be ample time to find an airport, seeing as there are over 5,500 public airports in the U.S., and make a normal landing. If the airplane has two engines you are better off, see next paragraph.

Much like a pilot must meet FAA certification so does an airplane. Every U.S. registered airplane has to be tested and inspected by the FAA in order to legally fly before it begins service. This is called an Airworthiness Certificate and it can usually be seen above the door of a jet when you walk on the plane. By FAA regulation this document must be in plain sight at all times. When an airplane is certified to carry passengers for hire operations it must pass certain standards to gets an Airworthiness Certificate. For twin engine airplanes one requirement is that if one engine is lost on takeoff or in flight it must be able to continue the takeoff or maintain level flight safely. As I mentioned earlier in a single engine airplane or when an airplane loses all engines it can still glide safely, remember wings support the airplane not the engine. In order to maintain an Airworthiness Certificate the airplane must be fully inspected, that means every critical part of the airplane looked at by a qualified FAA mechanic, at minimum every 100 Hours; for most airliners that's roughly two weeks.

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are created from the thermals we talked about before. If you go back to middle school science classes we know that when there is a lot of moisture in the air clouds are created. When clouds move over these thermals it pushes the cloud up, essentially making the cloud grow. The cloud continues to get bigger and bigger as the thermals continue. Eventually the cloud will get to the point where rain develops. Rain will stay in the cloud because it is being pushed up by the thermals. Eventually the rain grows and becomes too heavy for the thermals to support and it falls to the ground. Turbulence in a thunderstorm is still created by those thermals. These thermals are now "trapped" and intensified inside the clouds, making turbulence worse in these thunderstorm clouds.

Aircraft travel is statistically the safest way to fly. If you visit the NTSB.gov website they release a report every year with the amount of fatalities by mode of transportation. Aviation has the least amount of fatalities per unit traveled. Your chances of dying are much greater driving to the airport than flying to your destination in a very regulated and inspected aircraft with a highly trained pilot. There are roughly 6,000 flights in the air at any given time, that is a lot of flights every day completed safely only the few and rare tragic ones are reported. An important thing to remember is that the airlines, pilots, and FAA are there to make your flight as safe as possible, their existence depends on it! The greatest way to conquer your fears is to learn more about them.

This information was provided courtesy of:
Bennett Gray-G.
Commercial Pilot: SEL
High Alt./ Pressurized
Certified Flight Instructor: SEL and Instrument

This is great information and all obviously very true, I am a pilot and an NLP practitioner and the latter is what brings me here, but the detailed information about what is going on in the flight is useful, it stops people worrying about what is going on around them, and re-assures them that this is in fact normal.


Thanks for the post.

Thanks Chris,

I aim to add as much information as possible with regards to flying and things you may encounter during the flight for the exact reasons you mentioned. It's interesting to hear that you're a pilot. Are you a civilian pilot or commercial?