You may be a seasoned flyer with foolproof strategies for packing an overhead compartment, getting upgrades, or taking a snooze when you hit cruising altitude, but even the most intrepid airplane travelers are often in the dark when it comes to what actually goes on behind the scenes on aircrafts.
Why don’t airplane tires burst on impact? How dangerous is it when a plane loses an engine? Is that airplane water really safe to drink? Read on to find answers to your burning questions about flying the friendly skies.
ETOPS—or extended twin operations—is a designation that indicates the length of time a twin-engine plane can safely cruise to with one inoperative engine. In 2014, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner earned 330-minute ETOPS certifications, meaning it can stay safely operational on just one engine for more than five hours before needing to land.
ShutterstockThough you might assume there’s a standard procedure to follow if a passenger passes away mid-flight, what actually happens to your dearly departed cabin-mate varies greatly by airline and type of plane. While certain planes, like Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A340-500 aircrafts, were built with a special place to store bodies, according to one flight attendant, on many flights, the body will simply be moved to a back row and covered—except the head—until medical professionals on the ground can attend to the deceased.
ShutterstockIn fact, according to a report from the Air Accident Investigation & Aviation Safety Board, those masks only provide 12 minutes of continuous airflow on a 737. Luckily, that’s typically just the amount of time needed for your flight to find a safe landing spot.
ShutterstockSo, who’s flying your plane, exactly? Maybe no one—at least for portions of the flight. According to a 2017 report by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), among a group of 500 pilots polled, 43 percent admitted to accidentally falling asleep while manning the plane, while 31 percent admitted to waking up from a nap to find their co-pilot sleeping, as well.
ShutterstockThe black box, also known as the Flight Data Recorder, is actually painted bright orange. The heat-resistant paint used to coat the boxes’ exteriors comes in a highlighter-orange hue, which also happens to make them easier to find in case of an accident.
ShutterstockWhile the Mojave Desert in the Western United States often has humidity levels up to 50 percent, you’ll get just a fraction of that moisture aboard a plane. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the humidity aboard your average aircraft hovers under 20 percent.
ShutterstockThe Boeing 747 burns about 1 gallon of fuel every second, or 5 gallons per mile. Reversing this gives us the figure of 0.2 miles per gallon of fuel. This is much lower than the average car’s fuel efficiency at about 25 miles per gallon. But, considering the number of passengers the 747 carries, it is far more efficient. This breakdown explains that, because the plane can carry about 500 people, it’s actually getting 100 miles per gallon per person.
ShutterstockIn 1985, an ex-con who hijacked a Norwegian Boeing 737 armed with a pistol decided to abandon his plan so long as the police were willing to give him one thing: beer. In the end, the plane landed safely at Fornebu Airport in Oslo, none of the 115 passengers on board were harmed, and the hijacker was arrested.
ShutterstockIn 2016, a Ukrainian aero-engineer unveiled a system that would allow pilots to eject a plane’s cabin in the event of an engine failure. After ejection, the cabin would deploy parachutes to safely lower passengers to the ground. But as it turns out, most crashes don’t happen due to engine failure. Because issues tend to take place during takeoff and landing, this would leave very little time for the pilots to successfully eject the cabin and save passengers. A for effort, though!
ShutterstockAs it so happens, the filthiest place on a plane is that tray table you’re eating your meal off of. According to a study conducted by TravelMath, tray tables hosted 2,155 colony-forming bacterial units (CFU) per square inch. In comparison, the button to flush the toilet had just 265 CFU in the same amount of space.
ShutterstockYes, this incredibly real test is done with a “chicken gun,” and if you’ve seen the 2010 movie Captain Phillips, you know why. But before you report aviation experts to PETA, know that the chickens they receive are dead already. Airlines need to make sure that their windshields can protect pilots and passengers in the very likely event they collide with a bird. If you dare, you can see the test in action (NSFW).
ShutterstockWhile you may only see the occasional plane pass by overhead, that doesn’t mean the sky isn’t full of them. In fact, according to the FAA, there are 5,000 planes in the air over the United States at any moment in time, and more than 8,000 flying across the globe.
ShutterstockAccording to a report from Boeing, 13 percent of fatal accidents occur during a flight’s takeoff and initial climb, or the first three minutes of a flight. However, the descent and landing, or the final eight minutes of the flight, are far deadlier, accounting for 48 percent of all fatal accidents.
ShutterstockThe Antonov An-225 has an impressive maximum takeoff weight of 591.7 tons. In comparison, the Boeing 747-8F’s maximum takeoff weight is 489,218 pounds less, at 347.091 tons.
ShutterstockAccording to crash data compiled by Time, the fatality rate for seats in the rear third of a plane during a crash was 32 percent. The middle of the plane was the least safe, with a 39 percent fatality rate, while the front was marginally safer with a 38 percent fatality rate.
ShutterstockSometimes, it can feel like you are astronomically high in the air when you’re on a plane. However, you might be surprised to discover that you’re actually only 7 percent of the distance it would take for you to get into space. Planes can fly much higher than their average altitude of 30,000, but they don’t because doing so would present health risks to those inside.
ShutterstockWhen a plane passes through clouds, the static created can actually spur the development of lightning. Fortunately, even if your plane is struck, you’re likely pretty safe. There hasn’t been a lightning-related plane crash in the United States since 1967, and increasing safety measures have made lightning strikes less dangerous to passengers than ever before. When lightning strikes a plane, the electrical current is evenly distributed throughout the aircraft’s conductive aluminum interior, while grounding the plane’s interior electrical systems prevents surges that could interfere with its functionality.
ShutterstockIf you’re thinking of cozying up under one of those airplane blankets, think again. According to one report published in the Wall Street Journal, some airlines clean their blankets as infrequently as once every 30 days.
ShutterstockThat’s 17,248 times the amount of fuel held in the gas tank of a Dodge Ram pickup truck. However, not all of that fuel is being used during a single flight—in fact, the plane only uses an average of five gallons of fuel per mile, meaning a 3,450-mile trip from New York to London only requires about a third of the plane’s total fuel capacity.
ShutterstockWhile it’s nice to imagine that airlines are simply hoping you’ll get in some restful sleep, that’s not exactly the truth. In fact, dimming the lights aboard a plane helps passengers’ eyes adjust to the dark, an essential component in helping them survive should there be a sudden nighttime evacuation.
ShutterstockAccording to a study conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, airplane emissions are linked to 8,000 deaths each year. The number of people killed in plane crashes? Less than 1,000.
ShutterstockWhile numerous people have tried to open the exterior door to an airplane mid-flight (only to find themselves arrested later for doing so), actually doing so would be next to impossible. The interior pressure within the plane ranges from 4 to 14 PSI, meaning that, unless The Hulk or Thanos boarded your plane, it’s unlikely that the door could be opened.
ShutterstockEnglish may not be the official language of the United States, but it is the language of air travel. In 2003, the International Civil Aviation Association introduced new requirements to the Chicago Convention that stipulated that all pilots flying internationally must be proficient in so-called aviation English to prevent potentially-fatal communication errors.
ShutterstockDrive your pets crazy with a laser pointer all you want, but never aim that annoying red dot at a plane. According to 18 U.S. Code Section 39A, if you point a laser pointer at a plane or its flightpath, you can enjoy up to five years in prison to think about what you’ve done.
ShutterstockDutch airline KLM has the longest continuously operating record in the world. The Amsterdam-based airline’s planes have been lifting off and touching down since 1919.
ShutterstockWhile flipping that latch inside the bathroom that turns the door sign to “occupied” may give you some semblance of privacy, there’s an easy way for flight personnel to get in if they need to. Underneath that lavatory sign, there’s a switch that allows flight crew to open the door if they’re concerned about your safety or the safety of other passengers.
ShutterstockDespite being in business for nearly a century, Australian airline Qantas has never had a fatal accident involving one of its commercial aircrafts.
ShutterstockAccording to a report from technology company Tyco Electronics, which manufactures wire connectors for the aviation industry, a 747 can pack 750,000 feet, or 140 miles, of wire inside it, weighing approximately 3,500 pounds in total.
ShutterstockWhen attempting to cut costs in the 1980s, American Airlines discovered that removing just one item from passengers’ meals would do the trick. By simply nixing just one olive from the salads served in-flight, the airline saved a staggering $40,000 in the course of a single year.
ShutterstockYou might want to shell out the extra cash for a ridiculously-overpriced bottle of water at the airport. A report from the Wall Street Journal reveals that bacteria including salmonella and staphylococcus were found in airplane water, in addition to insect eggs. Another study conducted at the University of Limerick found 37 distinct bacterial species in airplane water, with long-haul flights having worse water quality than their short-haul counterparts.
ShutterstockIn 1977, the deadliest crash in the history of aviation happened on the ground. Pan Am Flight 1736 and KLM Flight 4805, both Boeing 747s, crashed into one another in Tenerife. However, as CBS News reports, it wasn’t an error on either pilot’s part, per se—low fog made visibility poor, and the airport’s runways were overly congested, leading to the two planes colliding, killing 583 passengers and crew members in the resulting fire.
ShutterstockWhile it’s only a hard-and-fast rule on certain airlines, Travel + Leisure reports that most pilots and co-pilots won’t eat the same thing for dinner. This way, if the food is contaminated and one pilot gets sick, the other should still be able to operate the aircraft.
ShutterstockThe Etihad Airways First Apartment—a private room with a bed, armchair, vanity and makeup mirror, and onboard shower—can easily run you more than $30,000 for a round-trip ticket from New York to Dubai.
ShutterstockGood news for those who don’t find airplane meals particularly palatable: you’re not actually tasting as much of them as you might imagine. According to the folks at JetBlue, the difference in air pressure and the low humidity in a plane’s cabin make it more difficult for your taste buds to register sweet and salty flavors.
ShutterstockTraveling by airplane is extremely safe—and getting safer every year. In 2017, there were zero deaths related to commercial aircraft accidents. By comparison, during the same year 40,100 people died in car accidents in the United States alone.
