Recall that moment when you boarded in an airplane for the first time and the myriad of crazy thoughts that zipped through your head?...
Recall that moment when you boarded in an airplane for the first time and the myriad of crazy thoughts that zipped through your head? Let us educate you and rid you of some of those concerns. Here are some unknown facts about the air travel, you might want to be aware of.
1. Few people have Aviophobia- here is a fact which might lessen their fear. The chances of dying in a car crash are 1 in 5000 and the chances of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million! Even if a plane does crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, averages of 76% of passengers survive (even in the worst of air-crashes).
2. There is actually a guide for freefalling out of an airplane even if you don’t get the time to strap on a parachute. Though the chances of you NOT getting a parachute are extremely slim.
3. Many airlines have a rule that every pilot that gets to fly the aircraft, eats a different meal, in order to minimise the risk of all pilots on board, falling ill. So even if falls sick, you always have the other one perfectly manning the aircraft.
4. The wings of the airplane are just one component of the airplane. There are actually four different forces of flight that push the plane up, down, forward, or slow it down. These four forces of flight are lift, thrust, drag, and weight.
5. The oxygen in an airplane’s emergency oxygen masks lasts for about 15 minutes.
6. Eighty percent of all plane crashes occur either during takeoff or landing.
7. In the event of a fire, you have approximately 90 seconds to exit the plane before the whole thing is toast. Also, if you sit more than 5 rows away from an exit, statistically you will more than likely not survive. But you needn’t worry as every air crew personnel is well trained to handle such situation and evacuate you to safety.
9. Before a plane takes off,
the atmosphere inside the cabin dries out our noses, and as the plane goes higher, the change in air pressure numbs about a third of taste buds. That's why a lot of people order Bloody Mary's. The tomato juice in it is less acidic up in the air. It's also why a lot of airlines add heavy amounts of salt and spice to dishes.
10. The white trail a plane leaves in the sky can be used to predict the weather. The contrails planes leave behind are
made up of water vapour. A thin, shorter-lasting tail indicates low-humidity air and fair weather. A thick, longer-lasting tail could signify the early indicators of a storm.
11. According to one estimate, you can lose about two cups of water from your body for every hour you spend flying. While estimates of water loss during flight vary, it’s a well-known fact that flying causes dehydration in passengers, which can lead to deep-vein thrombosis on long-haul flights. Drink water before, during, and after a long flight. It’s quite important, clearly.
12. KLM is the worlds’ oldest airline, established in 1919. Its first flight between Amsterdam and London was successfully completed on 17th May 1920.
13. Airplanes’ lifespans aren’t determined by years. Instead, they’re determined by the number of pressurisations the airplane undergoes. Every time an airplane is pressurised during flight, it causes stress on the plane’s fuselage. Over time, this stress causes irreparable metal fatigue and cracks. An approximate rule of thumb is 75,000 pressurizations per aircraft. In human terms, this works out to about 20-25 years for most planes.
14. If everyone on a plane jumped up at the same time would the plane get lighter? The answer is no. Actually the opposite is true. Owing to the laws of physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so if you jumped into the air you actually force the aeroplane down a little bit, thus increasing its weight albeit momentarily.
15. The reason why the lights are turned off during takeoff and landing is for your eyes to adjust to lower levels of light. If there’s an accident and cabin crew have to activate the emergency slides, studies have shown that one will be able to see better and therefore be able to evacuate more quickly and safely.
16. On 11th June 1962, Air India became the world’s first ‘all-Jet’ airline.
17. These complicated controls can literally fly themselves. Today even smaller planes come equipped with digital electronic autopilot features, combined with a flight director.
18. You can pay to go to space. Companies like Virgin Galactic are trying to build and maintain a ‘passenger spacecraft’ that will take tourists 70 miles above the Earth for short flights in space. Other companies like Golden Spike and Planetary Resources, Inc. are trying to privatize lunar expeditions and asteroid mining.