A Complete Flight
To regulate anxiety, Executive Function needs a balanced perspective of the situation. Flying needs to be viewed in proper context. You rightfully feel better by knowing everything about a flight is carefully thought out. Let’s consider a flight from beginning to end.
Planning and Preparation
A licensed flight dispatcher plans the flight and certifies, by signing an official document called the dispatch release, that all factors—weather, maintenance, airspace restrictions, alternate airports, and so on—have been considered and that the flight can be conducted safely. The captain reviews the plan and, by cosigning the dispatch release, certifies that he or she has done a complete review and that the flight can be conducted safely.
The copilot thoroughly checks the exterior of the plane. In the cockpit, the captain checks the interior and the maintenance logbook. If either finds a discrepancy, they notify maintenance. If maintenance can clear the discrepancy before the scheduled departure time, no announcement is made to the passengers. If they need more time, passengers are notified of a maintenance delay. This announcement can strike fear in the heart of the anxious flier who thinks, “There’s something wrong with the plane.” I see it a different way. It is important to understand that it’s rare for a plane not to need maintenance of some kind between flights. The announcement only means the maintenance cannot be completed before the scheduled departure time. It may mean nothing more than the mechanics need to replace one of the radios on the plane, and the new one has to be brought over from the other side of the airport. In most cases the problem is something that was discovered during the inbound flight. The plane flew in fine with that slight deficiency. And, though the plane could be flown out without fixing it, the airline is not going to do that. Rather than cause you concern, a maintenance delay should reassure you. It shows you the system is working.
While in flight, if a primary, secondary, backup, or emergency system is found to have a fault, in most cases the plane continues flying to its destination. But once it lands, the plane will not be flown again until the fault has been corrected. Though the plane could fly fine without the fault corrected, the discipline that ensures safety requires every primary, secondary, backup, and emergency system to be operational before beginning a flight. The plane is accepted only when everything is right. It is only after the captain is fully satisfied that he or she signs the logbook, accepting the plane, and certifying that it is fully airworthy.
One of the pilots checks the switches and circuit breakers that cannot be reached while seated at the controls. Once seated, each pilot follows a prescribed pattern to check every switch and instrument. Think of shopping in a supermarket. Though you have a shopping list, you save that for later use as a backup. You cover every aisle, going down one, and up the next, until you have shopped the entire store. Then you get out your shopping list and make sure every item on your list is in the cart.
Just so, in the cockpit, the captain goes down one row and up the next to check the setting of every switch (or dial) on the left side of the cockpit. The copilot does the same on the right side of the cockpit. Then, to be certain every switch is in the correct position, the checklist is used. Unlike shopping at the supermarket, where usually only one person checks the list, both pilots are involved. One pilot reads the checklist; the other pilot, touching the instrument, states its setting. The pilot reading the checklist confirms that the stated setting matches what the checklist calls for. If the setting varies from flight to flight, both pilots must agree that the setting is correct. Each item on the checklist is addressed in this fashion until the checklist has been completed. Then, the pilots contact Air Traffic Control (ATC) to confirm the route filed by the dispatcher is approved with or without modifications. ATC assigns a “transponder code,” a set of numbers to be set into a device that will cause the flight number to show up on ATC radar screens.
After the doors are closed and the flight attendants confirm the passengers are seated, the pilots obtain pushback clearance. When cleared, the plane is shoved back from the terminal by a tug. Most airliners are equipped with an auxiliary power unit (APU), a small jet engine that provides power for starting. The APU also provides electrical power and air-conditioning when the engines are not running.
As the engines are started, it is not unusual for the cabin lights to go out. So the APU can operate unattended, it’s equipped with a protective system to shut itself down if operation is not within certain parameters. The protective system is sensitive and may shut down the APU unnecessarily when an additional load is put on it, as is the case when using power for the APU to start the engines. If the APU shuts down, the plane is without electrical power until the APU can be restarted or a long, heavy-duty extension cord is plugged into the plane. When there is difficulty getting the engines started, it is generally due to APU problems, not an engine problem. APU problems can be a nuisance, but there is no safety problem because the APU is not needed during flight.
After engines start, the pilots contact ground control by radio and request taxi instructions. Ground control issues a taxi clearance with specific routing to reach the runway being used for takeoff. When approaching the runway, ground control instructs the pilots to switch to the control tower radio frequency. The tower controller will, when traffic permits, clear the flight onto the runway. On the runway, if there are clouds in the area, the pilots use radar to check the departure route for thunderstorms. If any storms lie along the departure route, the pilots obtain clearance to route around them before taking off. Once tower has confirmed that the runway is unoccupied and the airspace on the initial departure route is free of traffic, the plane is cleared for takeoff.
To begin the takeoff, the pilot making the takeoff (the captain and copilot take turns) pushes the throttles forward about halfway to partially rev up the engines, and then, pushing the throttles full forward, says, “Set takeoff thrust.” The pilot making the takeoff looks outside to guide the plane down the runway while the other pilot, using the engine instruments, adjusts the throttles and announces, “Takeoff thrust set.” The pilot making the takeoff has one hand on the control wheel and one hand on the throttles. During the takeoff roll, the pilot who is not making the takeoff calls out, “Eighty knots,” when that speed is reached. About 15 percent longer than a statute mile (5,280 feet), a “knot” is a nautical mile: 6,076 feet. So at eighty knots the plane is going about ninety-two mph. The pilot making the takeoff crosschecks for the same reading. If the reading is the same, the takeoff is continued. If the reading is not the same, the takeoff is aborted.
Why is this crosscheck of airspeed indicators done? Years ago, there was an incident in which a blockage in the tube leading to one of the airspeed indicators, due to an insect nest in the tubing, caused an erroneous speed indication. Though it is unlikely that an insect would again cause such a blockage, we do this speed check on every takeoff because in aviation, nothing is left to chance.
The next callout is “V-1”: At that point, the pilot making the takeoff, by moving the hand from the throttles to the control wheel, shifts from the “stop if an engine fails mode” to the “fly if an engine fails mode.” The next callout is “V-R”: The pilot making the takeoff begins pulling back on the wheel so as to bring the nose wheel off the runway, and then continues pulling back on the control wheel until the nose of the plane is elevated ten to eleven degrees.
Climb and Cruise
Once the plane is off the runway, the pilot pulls back a bit more so that the nose is elevated up to approximately eighteen degrees. The pilot not making the takeoff calls out, “Positive climb.” In response, the pilot making the takeoff calls, “Gear up.” The other pilot moves the gear handle to the up position. (An automatic safety device prevents the gear handle from being moved when the plane is on the ground.) Because the wheels are spinning, there may be a rumbling noise—or a vibration—when the landing gear is brought up into the “wheel wells”—the area inside the fuselage and wing where the gear is stowed. On most planes, doors close over the retracted gear to streamline the plane.
The plane climbs at an angle of about eighteen degrees until 1,000 feet above the runway; at that altitude the “noise abatement” procedure is initiated. Power is reduced to lessen noise near the airport. As engine speed and power are reduced, the nose is lowered to approximately fourteen degrees to keep the plane moving forward at the same speed. There may be a feeling of light-headedness for about two seconds as the nose is lowered from eighteen to seventeen to sixteen to fifteen to fourteen degrees. An elevator causes that feeling when it reduces its rate of climb to stop at a selected floor. Though the physical sensation is similar to falling, neither the plane nor the elevator is falling. The feeling doesn’t bother you in an elevator because you know what’s going on: You know the elevator is not falling; it’s just slowing its ascent. Now that you know what’s going on in the airplane, the feeling won’t bother you on board, either.
As speed increases, the flaps (which make the wing bigger and more curved to fly at slower speeds) used for takeoff are no longer needed, so they are retracted. You may feel some vibration during flap retraction. Speed is limited to 250 mph until reaching 10,000 feet, then increased to 300. As the plane climbs, if there is conflicting traffic, ATC, to avoid the traffic, will either have the flight turn or level off briefly. If the flight needs to level off, as the plane starts reducing its rate of ascent, you can expect to again feel momentarily light-headed. Light-headedness does not mean falling.
Just as you press the button of the floor you want the elevator to go to, when ATC instructs the pilots to climb to a certain altitude, the pilots dial that altitude into the autopilot. When the airplane approaches its selected altitude, the autopilot slows the plane’s ascent; it stops climbing at the selected altitude.
In addition to feeling light-headed as the plane levels off, you will hear the engines slow down. This does not mean the plane is slowing down. In a car, the engine is mechanically connected to the wheels. When the engine slows down, the car slows down. This is not the case in an airplane. There is no mechanical connection. The engines push the plane with a force called “thrust.” When a plane that has been climbing levels off, less thrust is needed than when ascending. The pilots reduce thrust, which is done by slowing the engine speed. When the plane resumes its climb, you feel a momentary heaviness—just as you do when an elevator resumes its ascent. You hear the engines speed up to produce the additional thrust needed to climb. It may help you to think of this as “stair-stepping”; the plane leaves the ground and climbs to the first step, pauses there until traffic is out of the way, then climbs to the second step and pauses again until traffic clears. Depending upon traffic, this might happen several times—or not at all.
Throughout the flight, a licensed flight dispatcher monitors the flight on a computer screen. The dispatcher has other screens showing weather conditions en route, at the destination, and at alternate airports. If any change occurs, the dispatcher contacts the pilots with the updated information. The dispatcher even has a doctor on standby to provide medical advice to the pilots by radio. A medical supply kit is made available to any doctor who may be on board. If a passenger needs to be taken to a hospital, the dispatcher advises the crew as to the best diversion airport, and arranges for an ambulance and medics to be waiting. En route, the dispatcher and the pilots monitor weather at the destination and alternate airports. If weather deteriorates, the dispatcher and the pilots discuss strategies, such as whether to hold and wait for the weather to improve, or to land elsewhere, refuel, and then continue.
Descent
Prior to descent, pilots learn which runway and what type of navigation is being used for landing. On a sunny day, pilots may be expected to navigate to the runway visually. On cloudy days, pilots are guided by radar and by signals that can be followed to the touchdown spot on the runway. If cruising at 30,000 feet, descent begins approximately 120 miles from the airport. The plane glides down at idle power. Traffic may make it necessary to do some “stair-stepping” on the way down. If so, at each leveling off, you will feel a bit heavy in your seat. Engine power is increased to maintain speed while temporarily level. When the descent resumes, power is reduced again to idle. Glide continues until between 2,000 and 6,000 feet. ATC, using radar, assigns a direction and speed to fly so that planes inbound to the runway are spaced about five miles behind each other. This spacing provides protection from wake turbulence and time for exiting the runway after landing.
In preparation for landing, flaps are extended to accommodate the slower speed. Flaps make the plane less streamlined. Additional power is applied to compensate for the additional wind resistance (called “drag”). Engine speed may be changed several times due to gear extension and changes in flap setting.
Every change is potentially unsettling to a passenger. Though these changes are routine and do not mean trouble of any kind, an anxious flier may think the plane is speeding up or slowing down, or that the pilot can’t get the right speed. Prepare yourself by expecting a number of changes. As the plane approaches the runway, expect abrupt changes of engine speed as the pilot nails down the exact landing speed and landing spot.
Wind, even a strong wind, is rarely a problem. A headwind aligned with the runway reduces the plane’s forward speed, reducing the length of runway needed for stopping. If the wind is not aligned with the runway, the pilot uses techniques to compensate.
If the plane is still in the thick of clouds when reaching the minimum legal altitude, the “missed approach” procedure spelled out on the runway chart is initiated. Since no further descent is allowed, the pilot must abruptly stop the descent and initiate climb. The nose of the plane is raised quickly and almost full power is applied. This is the standard “missed approach” procedure. This unexpected dynamic change catches passengers off guard, and can—naturally—be frightening. Just when passengers are counting on the flight being over, the plane ascends again. To compound the distress, it may be a minute or two before the pilots make an announcement.
It may be helpful to entertain the possibility of a missed approach. When the gear is extended, check your watch. From the point where the gear is extended, it takes approximately 120 seconds to reach “minimums.” If you cannot see the ground as you approach 120 seconds, anticipate the possibility of a missed approach. If, however, you reach 120 seconds and cannot see the ground, don’t worry that a missed approach has not been initiated. Most runways are equipped with an array of powerful lights that penetrate fog. The pilots are allowed to continue and land if the lights are in view, even when the runway and the ground are obscured by fog. After a missed approach, another approach may be made, perhaps to a different runway with lower minimums. Otherwise, the flight will divert to an airport where weather is not a factor.
Occasionally, a missed approach is made because the preceding plane failed to exit the runway expeditiously. Although the preceding plane may be far down the runway, regulations do not allow the tower to issue a landing clearance until the runway is vacant. In case the preceding plane may be able to exit the runway, pilots hold off initiating the missed approach as long as possible. Because the pilot has absolute control of the plane, a missed approach initiated when the plane is only a foot or two from the runway is not in any way unsafe.
Though there may be no visual connection with the ground, there is always electronic connection. From the time you leave the ground until you return to the ground, your plane is tuned to and guided by radio signals from the ground. The place the signal comes from is shown on maps. These signals from the ground are also used to produce a GPS-like display in the cockpit.
Landing
Power (on jets it’s called “thrust”) is produced by the engines. During flight, air is forced out of the rear of the engines to push the plane forward. But after landing, the direction of the thrust is reversed to help slow the plane down. To reverse the direction of thrust, the pilot deploys devices at the rear of the engine that deflect the engine exhaust air forward.
Wheel brakes and spoilers are also used to slow the plane. Wheel brakes are the same in principle as disc brakes on a car. The tires need good contact with the runway for the brakes to be effective. If lift continued to be produced by the wing after landing, contact between the tires and the runway would be reduced. The lifting action of the wing depends upon smooth flow of air across and underneath the wing. So, to eliminate lift, spoilers—panels on the surface of the wings—are raised to “spoil” the otherwise smooth flow of air across the wing.
If seated aft of the wing, a passenger may be able to see the reverse thrust deflectors deploy at the rear of the engine. If able to see the wing, a passenger can see the spoilers pop up vertically from the surface of the wing. Both help the plane slow down so the plane can exit the runway and taxi to the terminal.