Can you land a real plane?

[SEATAC 400]

Bad news for all of you sim pilots who secretly dream of heroically landing a real plane if the pilots become incapacitated.

This link to a website by a real pilot says no way!

http://www.askthepilot.com/questions-and-answers/#cX-q40

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Well, I have to say - us flight simmers have more of a chance, (bigger if you use complex sims like PMDG, Ready for Pushbakc, Captain Sim etc.) than the ordinary person - as shown in a 2005 Pilot magazine. Will dig it up

[rob16584 42]

Mythbusters explored this a while ago. If you have no knowledge at all and have to hand fly the aircraft, it would be very unlikely you would land it. But if you had knowledge of the auto flight systems it was possible

[SEATAC 400]

Mythbusters explored this a while ago. If you have no knowledge at all and have to hand fly the aircraft, it would be very unlikely you would land it. But if you had knowledge of the auto flight systems it was possible

This guy saw that episode of Mythbusters and comments on it.

On Mythbusters, if I recall correctly, it was a pretty easy setup. Nice weather, lined up, etc.

But I do agree, those simmers who are well versed in PMDG would stand a better chance than most. But in real life there would be no second chance and you could not turn crashed off like in FSX.

[GabethePilot 1]

As long as I had a blow-up co-pilot with lots of smokes, I'd give it a go.

And, the crew would need to be called : Under, Over and ... I forget the others!

I'm showing my age now.

Hollywood blockbusters aside, at least you'd know where all the buttons on the MCP were, when the pilot in the tower, had to "talk you down".

So, I reckon you' be at a distinct advantage.

If I were the 'pilot in the tower', I'd rather that the 'simmer in the aircraft', came back with "shall I use Vertical Speed or IAS to descend to FL100, than "What do you mean by... we now need to descend to 10,000 ft... ?".

Innit ! :dance2:

The bottom line is that knowing the difference between an MCP and a CDU would make all the difference in the world and give yo a lot more time to think about what's happening.

And don't forget, John Travolta can fly a 747... how hard can it be ?

......... hehe, I can't dance either.

[David TRIGGS 0]

Seems obvious to me that someone who has been using Flight Simulator for many years is going to have a better chance to land an airliner suddenly deprived of its pilots ... notice I said "better chance to land" than "be able to fly" (given all those bad habits we have built up not having 100% feedback in our home cockpits! With aid over the radio and a reasonable understanding of the autopilot a simmer would be able to get out of the cruise and into the approach. Here it becomes a little more complex, given that autopilot use would probably have to be relinquished and the possibilty of last minute panic likely with deadly results (no pause button or crash mode off) ...plus being able to stop what would probably be an overspeed landing.

Some years ago I and a friend put this to (abit of a) test ... we hired a B757 6 axis simulator for one hour, and were able to get in at least 3 landings each (all visual ... and some rather hard on the undercarriage!) These simulators are 99% realistic, no? At least that is why airline crews practice emergency proceedures in them. To be fair our on board instructor handled the engine regime ... but throttle settings could surely be directed over the radio?

At the time I held a private pilot's licence (so had a liitle bit of an advantage) ... but my friend had no experience except on my home simulator.

Any way ... we should surely leave us simpilots with one of our dearest fantasies intact ... ?!?!

David

[Tim_A 997]

All of which assumes that you can get through the locked cockpit door in the first place. If the flight crew truly is incapacitated, it is most likely the first you'll know about it is a gnawing suspicion after the plane has been holding over it's last waypoint fix for an hour, and there's been no announcement, or you see a couple of FJs on the wing, peering in ( obviously you won't see the third FJ sat behind you with his finger on the trigger)

As with Helios flight 522, I think it's very unlikely that anyone in the passenger cabin would dare attempt to break down the door until it was basically too late. By which time there would be mass panic among the passengers, and that in itself is enough to bring the plane down (as we saw with the recent croc incident).

So, in summary, unless the plane is small enough not to have a cockpit door, the chances of a passenger being able to land it are close to nil. Not because of a lack of the required skill, but because the modern "security" arrangements mean you'll (a) not know about the emergency, and (b) not be able to get to the controls in a timely or safe manner.

[David TRIGGS 0]

Yes the locked cabin door does complicate things! Although from my observations there is quite a lot of communication between the pilots and the flight attendants ... so the lack of activity up front would probably be noticed well before the aircraft spent too much time over its last waypoint fix... not to mention ATC Control who might be getting upset over the lack of radio response from the cockpit.The clincher for the cabin staff probably being the lack of a Captain's request for coffee over the last 10 minutes.

The question should also be asked ... does the senior flight attendant carry a key to the cockpit (or is the fire axe the only way to collect the flight crew's dinner trays?)

David

(PS ... don't pass it around, but there is always a spare key under the mat ...)

[needles 1,011]

YEP!

[GabethePilot 1]

Well, it depends on what you have hidden in your shoes or laptop.

If you have some magic "jelly beans" secreted away... you're okay.

Or, the Air Marshall can shoot through the lock with his nade launcher.