American Airlines pilot explains why take off makes him more nervous than landing
If you're a nervous flyer, sometimes it can help to know that you're not alone - sometimes pilots get nervous too. Reassured now? Good!
While your pilot isn't likely to be holding their co-pilot's hand while breathing into a brown paper bag, there are still some situations that can make them a little nervous. After all, they are hurtling hundreds of passengers at high speeds, over 30,000 feet in the air. Cut them some slack.
Air safety has been a been a big talking point as of late, with the recent crash of Air India Flight AI171, killing all but one person, and sparking debate over what makes people nervous when flying.
What makes pilots nervous
While it's common to look at what makes passengers nervous, there's one person who is always missed from the topic: the captain. So what, if anything makes an airline pilot nervous.
American Airlines pilot and crash analyst Steve Schreiber recently took to his YouTube channel, Captain Steeeve, where he answered the unusual question.
Advert
YouTube user @coleuploads asked Schreiber: "Are you more nervous taking off or landing typically?"
In Schreiber's usual fashion, he replied: "Cole, it's Captain Steve, I'm not nervous."
However, he did follow on to say that some pilots are more nervous about taking off than they are landing.
He explains this is because the airplane 'is as heavy as it's going to be, the power is all the way up, and you're as slow as you're going to be'.
He goes on to explain that once you have taken off, you can start pulling the power back, picking up speed, and start getting lighter.
He ends his answer by saying he's known nervous pilots, but that doesn't include 'good 'ol Captain Steve, you're not gonna catch me on that one'.
Do you really need to use Airplane Mode?
He also addresses one of the most common questions when it comes to commercial flights. Do you really need to use Airplane Mode?
While he addresses that 'all the haters are gonna come out on this one', Schreiber explains why airlines ask you to put on Airplane Mode while travelling.
He explains that research was done years ago, which shown that Bluetooth and other wireless signals could interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems.
Although, he goes on to explain that this is much more important while taking off, or landing, as pilots need those systems working at 100 percent to keep everybody safe.
Pleading with passengers, he says: "Put them in Airplane Mode, you can live without your device for the 10 or 15 minutes it's going to take me to get back on the ground."
Topics: Travel, Holiday, Air India, American Airlines
Kegan Marquez