Questions tagged [safety]
Safety includes all aspects of protecting aircraft, passengers and crew from accidents, mistakes and other potentially dangerous situations.
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What control inputs to make if a wing falls off?
If a wing is severed due to structural damage or from a mid-air collision, what is the best control input to make?
I would think opposite aileron and rudder, i.e. if right wing falls off, input full ...
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Why are there not more emergency squawk codes? [duplicate]
7500 is used for hijacking, 7600 for radio failure, and 7700 for any other emergency. I understand that 7600 and 7500 need special handling (you can't talk to ATC if your radio has failed, and a ...
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Other than training and some landings, do pilots ever stall on purpose?
Other than in training/practice and some landings, do pilots ever intentionally stall?
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Is there anything important to know about flying at ~9000ft for the first time?
When I did my NPPL training, there was a module on flying at minimum altitude, but nothing around high altitude flying, in fact, I've never flown over 3,500ft.
This weekend, I intend to fly up to ...
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Nutritional value of jet fuel (from a microbe's point of view) and which of their byproducts is causing the fuel tank corrosion?
Self-described "pilot, aerospace engineer, and mad scientist" YouTuber Jack Schneider's video Growing Microbes in Jet Fuel explains that if a layer of water accumulates below jet fuel (due ...
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Can Obstacle Limitation Surfaces Change over time?
I want to know whether the OLS (Obstacle Limitation Surfaces) around an aerodrome can change over time?
I know that if the ground level was altered this would change the limits of each surface.
...
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Must emergency exit door safety pins be removed before flight?
I recently saw while airborne on a flight that the rear right emergency exit door had a pin in it with a red tag stating "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT". The flight was in no rush to depart (had to ...
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Why doesn’t lightning punch a hole in the fuselage?
Electric arcing creates a huge temperature in the air around it. When lightning strikes planes, why doesn’t this high temperature air melt/deform the aircraft skin? Also can these high temperatures ...
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What is a safe but non-alarming proximity distance setting for SafeSky? [closed]
I am using an app for General Aviation called Safesky. It works on cellular data, is free and provides a lot of the functionality that a dedicated box like Pilot Aware does.
However, I have set my ...
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Private aircraft seating and exits - any rules?
Airliners and charter jets, operating under Part 121, 135, or their foreign equivalents, fall under regulations to ensure accessible exits, 16g seats, and other aspects of occupant safety.
Private ...
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How to convince the FAA to cancel family member's medical certificate?
A close family member is over 70, early dementia, severe cardiovascular disease, frequently falls asleep at inappropriate times during the day, on 10+ prescriptions, overweight, high blood pressure. ...
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McDonnell Douglas DC10 - scale model
I am building a scale model of a DC10. I need precise details of the external lighting arrangements. The red and green wingtip nav lights are obvious but I need the details of other beacons and their ...
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Is it permitted to fly a 737-800 with one pilot?
A 737-800 was scheduled to leave from a Canadian airport to Mexico, but was delayed: the airline said the reason was that one of the pilots called in sick. As a workaround, the airline flew the plane ...
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Why are emergency parachutes for pilots so heavy?
Parachute technology doesn't seem to have got much lighter in the past few decades. It seems that most emergency parachutes designed for pilots still weigh about 15 lb. And yet a Cirrus BRS designed ...
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How much of an effect do structural overloads have on an airframe's safe fatigue life?
Most aircraft1 are built primarily out of various aluminium alloys. Aluminium and its alloys have multiple physical and chemical properties that make them terrible choices as structural materials, ...
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Will the V280 operate with only one engine?
Can the newly contracted Bell V280 Valor operate on one engine?
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Why is the A330/A340's alpha-floor protection disabled above mach 0.53?
One of the A330/A340's several means of flight-envelope protection is something called "alpha floor" protection. In essence, if the aircraft's angle of attack is excessively high, TOGA ...
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Can any aircraft do donuts under their own power without significant damage?
I was reading this question and trying to think of ways to park an aircraft tail-to-terminal without using reverse thrust, and this question popped into my head:
Are there any aircraft that could, ...
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Can a helicopter's main rotor mince a human?
Prompted by one of the answers to a prior question of mine regarding a scenario involving a helicopter mincing someone with its main rotor in flight:
...I suspect having a human body come in to ...
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Is more information available about missionary pilot Nate Saint's backup fuel system described in "Through Gates of Splendor"?
I'm currently reading the book Through Gates of Splendor, and at one point (pages 61-63 in the first edition, about halfway through Chapter 5), it describes a system invented by missionary pilot Nate ...
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Is a broadhead arrow fired from a bow or crossbow a significant threat to the safety of a civilian helicopter?
Let us suppose that we have a civilian helicopter, such as an MD900, Bell 407, Robinson R44, Bell 47 or another common civilian design, hovering or flying slowly just above treetop level (50-70m).
If ...
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What are the differences, if any, between aviation custom earplug and regular custom sleeping or musician earplugs?
I see some websites selling aviation custom earplugs. What are the differences, if any, between aviation custom earplugs and regular custom sleeping or custom musician earplugs (i.e., flat-response ...
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Is there a safe and legal way to use airplanes in laser tag?
Would there be a safe and legal way to use airplanes in laser tag? The pilot would not be shooting to avoid distractions; a passenger would do it. Could shooting an infrared laser tag gun at a plane ...
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Would an S-92 / CH-148 (or any helicopter) be able to land successfully after rolling over and eating someone with its main rotor in flight?
In the SCP Foundation story "Over/",1 the protagonist and his fiancée get kidnapped by some terrorists looking for information, who eventually throw the two of them out of a CH-148 (with ...
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How dangerous (or not) are some synthetic types of aviation hydraulic fluids based on organophosphates?
Insider's January 13, 2023 Gerard Butler says he mistakenly rubbed acid all over his face while filming 'Plane' and didn't realize until he was 'burning alive' links to the Late Night with Seth Meyers ...
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Are there "distracted flying" laws for GA other than laws against reckless flying?
I am aware of the sterile cockpit rule for airliners, but are there any laws against "distracted flying" (analogous to distracted driving laws, or the sterile cockpit rule for airliners) for ...
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Would a Cessna 172 be as safe as an airliner if flown by an airline pilot?
I know that general-aviation flight is much more dangerous than airline flight. Is this because of the planes or the pilots? If an airline pilot is flying a Cessna 172, is that Cessna as safe as an ...
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If they really wanted to, COULD they make a 100% fail-safe airplane? [closed]
With literally every single electronics device that I have bought in the last X years breaking very quickly or immediately, and being of horrible quality, this thought keep popping up in my mind:
If ...
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Why do air planes not have a "grating" in the front of the jet engines for safety? [duplicate]
This is what a typical jet engine looks like:
Considering the horrible dangers with birds getting in there and crashing planes, why doesn't it look like this?
Why don't they have a "grating&...
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PROB30 in a TAF as an alternate still legal to use
Does a PROB30 in a TAF report affect your ability to use an airport as an alternate if conditions still remain above landing minima but less than alternate minima.
Example:
TAF XYZA 061335Z 0615/0715 ...
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Is there a VFR mobile app that shows other aircraft in real time?
In the UK, are there any apps available that show a real time radar / GPS of other aircraft and ideally their callsign?
As I fly Microlights, I only fly VFR, but in a high wing and often with low ...
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What wind speed should I adhere to (gusts or not)?
I live in the UK, and as such frequently have flight plans cancelled in Microlights (Ikarus C42). Anyway, one of the reasons is it has a low crosswind limit (15 kts). When I look at the weather, I ...
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How would a wheel-well stowaway have performed on a Concorde?
There have been many news reports of stowaways who hide in the wheel wells of subsonic airliners and survive the flight.
I assume this would not be survivable with a Concorde because they'd be unable ...
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What is the correct use of "REPORT LANDING ASSURED?"
Listening to BDL_TWR on my way to work and I heard tower request of what I presume to be a helicopter pilot: "report landing assured."
I'm an S2 VATSIM ATC and so I'm fairly familiar with ...
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Why do TFRs for spacecraft launches have ceilings?
When the FAA issues TFRs for spacecraft launches, such as this recent example the restrictions invariably limit their effect up to a certain altitude which never seems to exceed FL180. This is well ...
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Could Apple Airtags interfere with aircraft communication and navigation systems?
German media reports that Lufthansa has banned Airtags in checked bags:
This is specifically because of the transmission function.
Lufthansa claims that the transmission function needs to be turned ...
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How Do Pilots Account for Weight Shift?
What I mean by this question is cases of airliners or private jets.
You have possibilities of luggage shifting mid-flight, people changing seats (occasional but it does happen), and on private jets, ...
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What if i dont want any crop dusting done near my home simply because of the cancer causing affects from the chemicals being spayed right on top of me [duplicate]
I have 8 acres and I am surrounded by farmland that gets sprayed regularly every year! Twice while driving down my road, the plane flew right over top of me and splattered my entire car with spray ...
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How is the hazard from a malfunctioned ejection seat system handled?
Suppose an incident like this:
An airplane equipped with an ejection seat suffers a problem severe enough that the pilot decides to eject. As he pulls the handle... nothing happens. The ejection ...
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What is the minimum manpower required for A320 start up airline
Ideally on a A320 aircraft how many captains, first officers and cabin cre would be required for a start up airline accounting for 2 Management Captains, standby, training, sickness, leave, mandatory ...
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Training requirements to work for the CAA in rulemaking
For those who write regulations in the CAA, or part of the rulemaking process:
what sort of training do you require and how are these department structured?
I wanted to know more how the department ...
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Is it safe for a huge all black helicopter to be flying BELOW 500 feet over my house, for an hour now, spraying pesticides all over the area
How dangerous is it for a huge all black helicopter to be flying below 500 feet over my house, for a half hour now, spraying pesticides all over the area and my farm animals. It is shaking the whole ...
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Aircraft with air bags for seats
Are there any (passenger) aircraft models with airbags for seats?
I had never heard of it but was watching a film where a Virgin Atlantic engineer mentions it for their business class and premium ...
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Where would you smell the extensive use of cigarettes in the cockpit of an A321? [closed]
Last night I flew on a A321 and midway during the 2.5hrs flight I went to the rear right toilet. It strongly smelt like hefty cigarette smell, but not like anybody would have smoked in there. I had ...
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What do you need to have onboard for flights with an ultralight/sport aircraft over water (Atlantic, Pacific)? Life raft possible (weight/size)?
Remark: For us in Germany an UL is a 2 seater with 470/600kg MTOW. AFAIK those are named Light Sport Aircraft in the US/Australia. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikarus_C42
What do you use if ...
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I heard that the Yaw Damper is critical to flight safety. Why then are most planes allowed to fly with one (out of two) dampers inoperative?
For example, a twin engine plane would not be allowed to fly if one engine was inoperative, in case the only working engine failed mid-flight.
Why then are planes such as the 737, 747, 757, and 767 ...
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Do I need a physical print-out of weight & balance calculations onboard
Our flight school taught us to print out some documents relevant to flight preparation and take them onboard the aircraft: This usually included
weight & balance...
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Piper Cherokee - Flying with inoperative equipment
I've looked everywhere and I'm not able to find the relevant information regarding the following.
What equipment can be inoperative and still allow me to fly a pa-28-181? I know the rules in the 91....
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Were the Airbus A320 rudder hardover issues fixed after Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed due to uncommanded rudder deflection?
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed when the rudder made an uncommanded deflection 2 degrees to the left:
When the crew was required to fly the Airbus A320 manually, there was
an unexplained nine-...
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If spoilers are released in flight without descending, what could happen? [closed]
If spoilers are released in flight without descending, what could happen?
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