Some facts about flights.
Many of us wonder what happens when something or incident takes place in a flight. I will share with you some of these questions that you may have.
1) What happens if someone tried to open the door of an airplane?
In big jetliners, and before takeoff, we hear the command "Door to automatic and cross check". Passengers assume the cabin crew are being told to lock the doors. In fact, the instructions is to put the inflatable evacuation slides on to automatic, so they shoot out if the door is open.
In practice, plane doors do not need to be locked because once airborne its virtually impossible to open them. That is partly because of the unusual way they swing, inwards first and the outwards, and the fact that the cabin air pressure is so much higher than the surrounding air pressure. Usually and airplane flying at 41,000 feet is pressurized as if it is at 6,000 feet.
As a result, as the climbs,the cabin air pressure pushes the doors outwards, sealing it into place. The higher the plane flies, the stronger the seal become. So strong that it would be impossible for anyone to open it. But please do not try.
2) Why does the cup of tea or coffee tastes funny in a flight?
A proper cup of tee of coffee is made with water that has been heated to 100 degrees Celsius. The temperature at which it boils on the ground. Unfortunate, in the reduced pressure environment of an aircraft cabin, the boiling point of water lowered to around 90 degrees Celsius, which means that the brewing process is unsatisfactory. For the same reason, you can not have a decent cup of coffee or tea in the mountains.
3) What happens if the airplane was hit by lightning?
It is important to note that no modern airplane has been brought down by turbulence, although passengers have been injured or even killed, either because they were not wearing seat belts and hit their heads on the ceiling or because heavy luggage fell out of the over head lockers.
Turbulence is caused by sudden change, either in the temperature or wind direction, in the outside air and is entirely normal. As for the lightning, pilots are able to avoid most storms and around them or above them with the help of the on-board whether radar.
But if the airplane flies through a thunderstorm for some reason, do not worry. The safest place to be in an electrical storm is inside a metal cage or tube, such as an airplane. Theoretically, a correct strike could knock out the plane's electrics, but that is why all the airlines have built-in lightning protection systems that defend against any electrical build-up, aviation's equivalent of lightning rod on a church tower.
Great info - I guess the other myth is that people will be sucked out of the airplane if the window pops open!
ReplyDeleteHello Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteActually it is not a myth, it is a fact. The cabin is pressurized to make it a comfortable environment for the passengers, therefore if the window pops open, the inside air will escape form a small opening and will be travelling very fast thus sucking anything loose on its way.
If this ever happens, the pilot will descend to lower altitudes to ease the inside pressure and usually below 10,000 feet.
Wow! there is so much to learn about airplanes. your posts are always very informative for me but sometime little more technical due to the nature of your topic. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Saimata,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to keep the terminology and language used as simple as possible as this is one of my objectives. The post and flying information to be understood by virtually everybody who reads it.