6
$\begingroup$

I was once (like ten years ago) on a transpacific flight with Northwest from KIX/RJBB to KDTW on a Boeing 747 and our flight as delayed at the gate for about an hour because of some issue with a "floating horizon" (I remembered incorrectly, the issue was a "artificial horizon").

Is that a malfunction with the attitude indicator? What exactly went wrong? It sounded like they fixed it by swapping out a component, maybe the instrument itself?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Perhaps they wanted to say "an issue with the artificial horizon" (being the attitude indicator) and it got garbled in a game of telephone? Or was it a PA announcement from the flight deck? $\endgroup$
    – falstro
    Feb 10, 2014 at 8:43
  • $\begingroup$ "Artificial horizon" was the correct term. After a decade I just remembered the wrong term. $\endgroup$
    – Jeff B
    Feb 11, 2014 at 13:21

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5
$\begingroup$

Best bet is that there was an issue with the artificial horizon. If it was on an older aircraft without a glass cockpit, the gyro or its gimbal was probably broken causing the face to 'float' around or just stick at an odd angle. Then it was then communicated poorly to you by someone. Other than that I have never heard of a "floating horizon" and a google search doesn't yield any results either.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ I think you're right. Now that you've mentioned it, that sounds like the term they used. It had been so long, I think I remembered it wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Jeff B
    Oct 10, 2014 at 12:46

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .