Are you afraid of airplanes or afraid of flying? Part 2

¿Are you afraid of airplanes or afraid of flying?? Part 2

Welcome to the second part of the special about the Fear of Flying. In this second installment we are going to talk about those mysterious beings that we rarely see and usually, only oríWe hear their voices through airplane speakers and whyé we must trust them.

Check out the first installment.: Fear to fly.
Check out the third installment.: Turbulence and other factors.

Post written by: Capturesán Rodolfo Estrella  (with littleñNicol's contributionsás Larenas)
FAA Commercial Pilot
Twitter: @rodo_estrella

The pilots

First of all, the pilots are highly qualified and trained personnel., They know the aircraft they fly very well and receive trainingón inheritedósay yesí as continuous training in different
situations that alsoás to include normal handling of the aircraft includes emergency management, and the so famous CRM (Crew Resource Management) What is proper resource management?
communicationón, leadership, evaluationón of risks and decision making to reduce the risk of the “human factor” what is popularly known as “pilot error” this science of CRM is currently
a very important pillar in the training of pilots to reduce the risk of possible human error.

For a person to get to sit in the Commander's or First Officer's seats, dutyán have gone through long periods of training and qualificationón, that always start, in a pilot school, from where these characters, lovers of one of the professions mádemanding and stressful parts of the world, be trainedán initially for a period of at least 2 años. During this time, students goán advancing in their career and incorporating qualifications and complements that allow them to provideún más safety for your flights and those of your future passengers.

Students startán as private pilots, afterés instrument pilot, multi-engine pilots, commercial pilot and in some cases alsoén instructor pilot. Afterés to reach the úlast license that enables them to be an airline pilotíline that is commercial pilot, they will haveán have to add flight hours to be able to join a large company, for instance, the requirements míspirits are 300 hours of flight and growá exponentially secún regulations of each countryís or the companies themselves, so the pilots of your avión, tenderán más what flight experience is required before being hired.

Apart from the hours of entry to the airportírequired lines, once they do, marketán for strong exesámenus of knowledge and psychologyógicos más specific studiesífics of the avión what to flyán, where flight hours in a certified simulator are included, in this it will be putáThey test all the pilot's skills and knowledge of the aircraft.ón to deal with potential emergency situations in a controlled environment, but what to give himá enough experience to later, face them in a hypothetical caseético in real life.

The pilot career may seem somewhat short when compared to, for example, an engineering, especially if we take into account all the responsibility involved in transporting thousands of passengers daily, but the difference isá in the hard training and studies that a short race implies. Afterés de 2 añthose of instructionón básica, marketá at least 1 año más until the pilot accumulates the necessary hours to be competitive in a demanding environment and get a job and thenés up 1 año más to achieve qualificationón specífic for the avión who was hired.

The pilot who isá communicating through avi speakersón o who welcomed you when you boarded, He is an expert in the avión that flies, since generally, beá enabled to fly a type of aircraftón specífic and not like any citizen who a díone can drive a Ford and the next a Ferrari. Every grandparentón has its complexities, special systems, so oweás rest assured that the pilot, you knowí o sí, fly grandpaówhat isá to take off.

the flight path.

Before each flight, the pilots and the airínea carefully plan each office in order to do it in the best way.ás safe and pleasant as possible. Although there are meteorological themesólogic like the
turbulence that are difíeasy to anticipate and can be found anywhere in the flight, There are routine reports where meteorological news is reported.ólogic in flight paths, Additionally during the planning stageóThere are various meteorological reportsógics where they can be analyzed in a timely mannerómo será the weather along the route.

We can be sure that the crewón has studied in advanceón the chosen route and the weather conditionsólogic for each flight, However, as i mentioned before, there are conditions that are
unpredictable events for which in-flight reports from other pilots in the air are helpful, which together with the designñor the aircraft itself guarantee us in a great way that, but sometimes
the trip was a little bumpyá safe.

¿And if it's night?, and ¿if it's cloudy?, ¿cóthe pilot does not know where he is going?

To the instrumentsón of the avión además to serve as guífor navigationón on route it also worksén to verify the attitude status of the aircraftón during your flight, be for example if your nose is up, O
if it is level, así be it night or dayíor with little or no visibility the instruments giveán to meet the crewón Como isá flying the aircraft, All commercial pilots have a certificationón instrument flight where they learn to fly without visual references and only based on cockpit instruments. If dangerous deviations occur in the flight attitude, some aircraft have warning and protection systems.ón to avoid a dangerous flight attitude.

¿And if the pilot does not see the runway at the time of landing?

gu systemsía landing instrument guíaircraft laterally and vertically up to an altitude míconfident mood, yes the avióIf you reach that altitude and you cannot see the runway, you proceed to a
approximationón frustrated to try again or wait for better conditions, Pilots will never attempt to land in poor visibility if certain conditions técones are not met and always on the approach pathóThe crew takes to the trackón tenderá references in their instruments about the locationón of the avión with respect to the runway for landing. So if a día isás cófashionably seated and you know that the avión isá landing and unexpectedly you feel that the airplane's enginesón they start to sound más strong accelerating, don't worry, It is a measureástandard and safety procedure that is carried out whenever landing conditions are unsafe, be by determinationón of the pilots or by a third party such as traffic controlánsito aéreo.

There is always the possibility of a problem with any vital onboard system and airplanes have alternate or redundant systems that, in the event of failure of one, replace them for operation.ón. For instance, some airplanes have three hydraulic systemsáindependent ulics that, in the event of one failing, the other two can act in place of the first.

As you can see, being a pilot is not fáeasy and ableíwe love to extend thousands of words más describing the training and cómo a driver becomes a professional in one of the m racesás hard, but beautiful in the world. If you're afraid to fly, you must eliminate from your head the subject of the pilot, since they know what they do and have sacrificed their lives to do it.