On this site I pay a lot of attention to aerophobia and how to deal with it. Because this is a very common fear, and even I myself can’t stand going up in the air.

Another article dedicated to airplanes and flights talks about why, in fact, flying is much safer than we imagine. Read and have clear skies!

Is turbulence dangerous, how do weather conditions and lightning affect the plane? A British Airways pilot answers these and other questions.

Turbulence zone - is it dangerous?

Despite the inconvenience, it is absolutely safe; in our Fly With Confidence courses we try to explain this as clearly as possible. Those aircraft on which the passenger air transportation, can withstand enormous turbulence, significantly big one, which you have most likely experienced.

The problem with turbulence zones is that they cannot be detected in advance. True, pilots who fly through these zones report this fact - this information reaches those pilots who fly after them.

Sometimes you can get out of this zone if you change your flight altitude (fly higher or lower), but this does not always help. This only affects the sensations of passengers, but not the safety of the flight.

Wind shear, or wind shear. What is this? Dangerous?

Wind shear is a dangerous phenomenon during landing and takeoff. This is a sudden change in wind speed or direction as the aircraft increases or decreases speed.

If the wind affects the speed in such a way that it falls below the minimum permissible, then the probability of the plane crashing is high.

All pilots undergo hours of training, and planes and some airfields are equipped with warning systems for potential drift.

Should I worry if the flight takes place in bad weather conditions (snow, rain)?

No. Pilots are very knowledgeable about weather conditions, always studying the current forecasts at departure and arrival airports, as well as the weather at airports along the route.

As for fuel reserves, we always have a larger amount filled if, according to the forecast, problems are expected at the arrival airport - at such moments it may be necessary to delay landing and go around.

Is too windy weather a barrier to planting?

There are many videos online showing when a plane lands at an angle, is it safe?

Each type of aircraft has a limit that pilots will not violate in crosswinds. Often smaller airports don't have a wind runway, so yes, wind can be an obstacle to landing in a very small number of cases.

But the wind speed and direction are analyzed in advance; in rare cases, the flight may be canceled or transferred to a nearby airport for this reason.

As for the videos, they look scary, but for landing in strong crosswinds there is a special control technique, all this is safe and practiced by pilots.

How do pilots land planes in thick fog?

Using the Autoland program. This is a complex system that uses ILS - Instrument Landing System - a combination of ground beams that will guide the aircraft to the landing strip.

In this case, pilots may not see the runway until the landing gear touches the ground. This may be the case, say, at Heathrow Airport, where there is a modern ILS system.

Pilots manually land planes 98% of the time, but Autoland training is conducted at British Airways every six months throughout a pilot's career.

What happens if a plane is struck by lightning?

No problem, all commercial aircraft are designed so that lightning strikes do not affect their performance in any way. Airplanes are equipped with electrostatic dischargers, which are usually located at the tips of the wings.

If lightning does hit the plane, they release electricity into the air. After any such incident (and this is also very rare), the aircraft is inspected for damage to the skin.

What happens if a tire bursts?

At low take-off speeds this may cause the take-off to be cancelled, but at high speeds the flight will not be interrupted. A plane can land with any number of burst tires.

Should you be afraid of bird strikes?

Of course not, such things happen extremely rarely. If this happens, there is minimal or no damage to the aircraft and all engines are tested to withstand a bird strike.

Mid-air collision - what are the chances of that?

There are three things you should know about this.

First, airport dispatchers undergo strict selection, training and licensing. Their task is to create a so-called protective bubble, which increases in size with increasing altitude and speed of the aircraft.

Secondly, the pilot is a professional in his field, he goes through a huge number of tests, selections and checks.

Third, all aircraft are equipped with electronic systems that allow pilots to negotiate with each other.

If the airline is a low-cost carrier, is it more dangerous to fly with it? They save money.

I cannot be responsible for other companies, but for all airlines that are members of ICAO (International Association civil aviation) there is a minimum level of preparation and tests. And this level is actually very high.

Are small planes more dangerous to fly?

No, they have the same equipment and safety standards, it’s just that the turbulence in smaller aircraft is more noticeable. Therefore, most passengers may feel that flying on such an aircraft is more dangerous.

What's the most dangerous part of flying? It is believed that this is a takeoff or landing.

Believe me, your taxi ride to the airport is statistically much more dangerous than any part of the plane flight.

Shortly after takeoff I feel the plane crash, what is it?

These are just features of our vestibular apparatus, which is accustomed to being on the ground. As for the plane, the pilot only reduced the rate of climb.

At cruising altitude I can sometimes hear a sudden loud hum from the engines, as if the power of the turbines is increasing?

This is a standard step climb technique, it is carried out with the aim of increasing engine efficiency when the aircraft becomes lighter (some of the fuel is used up).

How do you know if the plane has enough fuel?

The fuel level is something that the pilot always controls. By law, aircraft must carry emergency fuel reserves.

Can phones affect the operation of an airplane?

Do pilots sleep on board?

On long-haul flights (more than nine hours), a third pilot always flies with us. The pilots take turns resting in the staff area. In some cases, there may be four pilots on board at once.

What happens if one of the two pilots loses the ability to fly the plane? What if both?

One pilot is quite capable of flying an airplane - this is standard simulator training. There has never been a case in the world where two pilots switched off at once; these are fictions from movies. As mentioned above, the crew often consists of three or even four pilots.

Is it dangerous to fly at night?

No, because the technology and all the tools are used exactly the same as during the day.

Thousands of flights take place every day between different cities, countries, continents. Pilot passenger plane– a person responsible for the life and safety of people. After all, the flight takes place at a huge altitude with colossal speed, and it depends only on the pilot how safely the flight will be completed. The co-pilot tells us about thoughts in the sky and on the ground Boeing 737 Vladislav Khasanov.

Please tell us more about your profession. Usually people don't know much about it.

Those who don’t really want it don’t know much: in fact, now it’s quite easy to find out about civil aviation pilots and their professional lives. There are quite a lot of blogs on the Internet that are run by pilots, and several of my friends, by the way, have “live journals” and pages on Instagram and Facebook.

Are you flying as a crew chief?

Previously, yes, now I fly as a co-pilot. I recently changed the type of aircraft, and at a certain stage I had to start all over again.

How do the functions of a co-pilot differ from those of a crew commander?

The functions of the co-pilot and commander differ depending on the phase of the flight. For example, while the aircraft is on the ground, the functions of the crew members and their subordination are significantly different from those during the air phase of the flight. Sometimes this is simply due to the fact that the design of the aircraft does not provide for synchronous control on the ground: only the commander can taxi, for example, on a Boeing 737. But in the air, or rather from the moment the takeoff roll begins, the commander and co-pilot are even called differently: pilot flying and pilot monitoring. Moreover, during the flight they change roles: in one direction the functions of the pilot are performed by the commander, and in the other - by the co-pilot, while the commander performs the functions of pilot monitoring. That is, he monitors modes, parameters, deviations, fills out documents and maintains radio communications. Therefore, ideally, of course, it is believed that the piloting skills of the crew commander and co-pilot should be almost equal. True, now many young people come from colleges, and, of course, they have to gain experience. And in their performance, the functions of a co-pilot are somewhat different from the functions of those people who have been flying for a long time. But ideally it should be like this: the co-pilot and the commander have the same piloting skills and perform the functions of the pilot pilot in turns, depending on how it is distributed.

Have you always wanted to be a pilot? How did your parents feel about this?

I can’t say that I always wanted to be a pilot. During school life, interests and hobbies changed, but by the end of school it was already clear where to go and what to do in life. And my parents were never against it. They knew that I understood that I had to finish school and get a profession, and they were calm about this.

How did you become a pilot?

I graduated from the Sasovo Civil Aviation Flight School and the Civil Aviation Academy in St. Petersburg. Admission always begins with a medical commission, then those who have passed the medical commission are sent to professional selection and only then proceed to take entrance exams. I entered in 1988, and then, I must say, there was a fairly large entrance competition.

Training takes place according to standard state programs; a pilot who has graduated from a higher flight school has a higher technical education. In other words, training at a flight school takes place according to classical educational standards and a standard set of disciplines: from higher mathematics to philosophy, from physics to history. In addition, cadets add special subjects such as navigation, aerodynamics, meteorology, aircraft design, aircraft engines and others. Of course, cadets are always more interested in specialized subjects than general subjects. After all, it is much more fun to learn to fly an airplane than, for example, to learn the history of the CPSU. And in Soviet universities, by the way, this was a subject required for all specialties. Or maybe now a pilot really needs English, but before no one was going to fly abroad, and therefore it was not clear why we studied it. Comrades from the military flight school said that they were taught English poorly there, and joked: they teach you this way on purpose, if you are captured, you will not be able to tell anything.

Vladislav Khasanov is the co-pilot of the Boeing 737.

When does a cadet take the helm for the first time?

As a rule, after the second year. First, the cadet flies with an instructor in accordance with the flight training course. In the first flights, the instructor does everything, and the cadet just watches. Then, at a safe stage of the flight, they just let you hold the helm and fly a little on your own in the horizon, and at first even this is not easy. The exercises gradually become more and more difficult, and it all ends with the most important and high-profile event in the life of any pilot - the first independent flight or “PSF”. Ideally, after approximately 20 hours of flight training, it is advisable for the cadet to fly out on his own. The instructor remains on the ground, and the cadet takes off independently, makes exactly one circle, lands, taxis to the parking lot, turns off the engine and that’s it! This completes the first independent flight, and the cadet can then fly independently on this type of aircraft. But it doesn’t end with this type, there are aircraft of initial flight training, there are aircraft of final types, larger ones.

Have you ever wanted to change your job?

No, I personally have never had this happen. It happens, of course, that people lose motivation, especially when something doesn’t work out. But I don’t remember that people would voluntarily give up being a pilot.

Or you can ask a naive question - what is more dangerous: takeoff or landing?

Since school days, pilots have had this saying: “takeoff is dangerous, flight is beautiful, landing is difficult.” The most difficult part of the flight is landing, while the most dangerous is take-off. Taking off is actually not difficult: upon reaching the take-off speed from the ground, when the lifting force arising from the action of the air flow on the wing becomes equal to the weight of the aircraft, the ability of the aircraft to lift off from the ground arises. Since a modern aircraft has a sufficient excess of thrust, we reach this speed quite quickly. At this moment, the “rotate” command sounds, and it is enough to carefully pull the steering wheel towards you, lock it in the desired position, so as not to continue to “turn up your nose” when it is no longer necessary. And then the plane leaves the ground smoothly and quickly. Here the pilot’s functions come down to maintaining direction during the takeoff run along the runway and immediately after takeoff. This is not easy, because the plane takes off at an average speed of 280 km per hour, and the standard runway width is 50-60 meters. Therefore, even a slight deviation at such a speed can lead to the plane moving off the runway with its side wheel. In other words, to successfully perform a takeoff, you just need to maintain the direction, take the helm at the right pace (3 degrees per second) upon reaching takeoff speed, not accelerate or lose speed during the initial climb, and, finally, fly strictly according to the exit pattern .

Now about the landing. Planting is a complex, multifactorial and therefore unique process. Every landing is different, and when it goes well, the pilots are even more happy than the passengers. Then, when you’re already driving home by car, you analyze and try to understand what you did wrong, what didn’t turn out the way you wanted. Perhaps everything turned out well for the passengers, because they want as soft a landing as possible (although a soft landing is not always reliable and safe). But pilots evaluate their landing according to completely different, more stringent criteria. And what will cause applause from the passenger may not at all satisfy the pilots in the cockpit. For example, you see that the speed was maintained by 2 knots, that the plane began to level high above the runway, delayed the flight phase and slightly overshot the landing zone. The passenger has no idea, but we see these rough edges and get upset. But, let me emphasize, all these deviations do not affect the safety of landing.

Is it true that most landings are performed by autopilot?

No, what are you talking about? Let's take a closer look at automatic modes. Firstly, as strange as it may sound, the autopilot is also controlled by the pilot: he sets its course, altitude, descent or climb mode. Secondly, the autopilot is used when the plane is already high enough from the ground. And there are stages at which the autopilot is required. For example, at altitudes from 29,000 feet to 41,000 feet, oncoming separation with a reduced interval is used: between aircraft flying towards them, the altitude interval is only 1,000 feet (about 300 meters). In such a situation, it is difficult for a person to maintain a certain altitude for several hours of flight. Therefore, in this zone we are required to fly using an autopilot. And finally, the widespread belief that the plane always lands automatically is a misconception. In fact, in most cases, the plane is landed manually by the pilots, unless this is prohibited by company documents or does not arise from the actual weather conditions (with a cloud base of 15 meters and visibility on a runway of 200 meters, only automatic landing is performed). As far as I know, there is only one company that categorically mandates that you always use the autopilot when landing. The use of automatic landing assumes that the airport is equipped with equipment that will allow this to happen. But not all airports have such equipment.

Do you feel a burden of responsibility?

During a flight, it is impossible to constantly think about passengers. However, on the train, when everything is quiet and calm, the papers are filled out, the parameters are normal, then you already ask how the passengers are doing. Are they happy with everyone, have they eaten, aren’t they cold, do they want to hear information about the flight? There is a thought about responsibility when you go to work. After all, you realize that today you will transport passengers by air at a speed of 900 km per hour at an altitude of 11 km, that they will be between heaven and earth, and it is necessary for everything to end happily. Again, you won’t think about it all the time, but in general terms, the pilot always remembers the passengers. We are all people, we all have families and children. When I go to work, I understand that I and my future passengers may be traveling on the same road with me and that we will end up together in the sky, only they will be completely dependent on me. Therefore, of course, we think about this and never want to scare passengers or cause them discomfort. If you went around, if you flew to an alternate airfield, then it was necessary in order to complete the flight safely.

Apparently, the pilot must be in constant tension. Is this really true?

No, of course, there is no constant tension. Do you know what is most important in aviation? Don't break anything! There are many rules, standards and instructions. If you do your job conscientiously and accurately and punctually follow all the rules, then everything will be fine. If you deviate from something, start neglecting something, you will be punished for it. Therefore, the profession of a pilot teaches serious discipline. And in general, this is closely monitored by the airline. After the flight, data from the automatic flight data recorder (“black box”) is decrypted; in large airlines, 100 percent of flights are decrypted. After taxiing, an objective control service engineer comes on board with a laptop and, using special software, reads and decrypts the flight parameters. More than fifty parameters are registered. There is a statistics department that keeps records by name. It becomes clear that you are limping: for example, you take the plane off the ground too vigorously or level the plane too late on landing. There is a department of flight standards, and specialists can call a specific pilot and say: look, you have this deviation again, you are developing the wrong skill. Let's fix it.

How do pilots become accustomed to the idea of ​​responsibility?

When a cadet is 17-18 years old, he enters college and he just likes to fly on an airplane and wear a uniform, then, probably, he is not yet accustomed to this idea. But teachers, psychologists and instructors are actively working on developing the qualities necessary for a civil aviation pilot. Every day throughout the five years of training you are taught that you must fly safely, that you are carrying passengers, and so on. And by the end of the fifth year, a person already gets used to this idea. And then, when he comes to work at the airline, he also hears every hour words about responsibility. And, of course, a person grows up, gets married, has children, and over time understands more deeply what responsibility is.

Every day throughout the five years of training you are taught that you must fly safely, that you are carrying passengers, and so on.

Have you ever had any extreme situations during a flight?

I'll probably disappoint you, but I didn't have anything like that. Modern aviation technology is quite reliable. We fly on foreign-made aircraft, and in general it’s almost impossible to find fault with the technology. Moreover, large airlines monitor the condition of their fleet very closely, so the planes are very well maintained and in excellent condition. And, of course, that's all emergency situations are practiced on the simulator, and every pilot is ready for them. And he always has a certain algorithm of actions for such cases in his mind.

Does being a pilot complicate your family life?

We take this philosophically: because, for example, I planned to go to the theater with my wife, I will never break anything and fly home no matter what. This means that the wife will go to the theater with her son or with a friend. This happens often. But the family learns to take such a life calmly. The first time it’s offensive, but over the years people get used to the fact that if a person flies away, he may not return on time today, or maybe he will only return tomorrow. The family gets used to various force majeure events, the main thing is to arrive at all.

Your life is probably like in the army - everything is on command?

In general, aviation has a very complex hierarchical structure. Eat flying squads, in detachments - squadrons, in squadrons - commander, deputy commander, instructors. The instructor flies with each pilot in his group from time to time and knows well who has what weaknesses and strengths. He also corrects incorrect skills as soon as they appear. If this does not work out for him, then a higher-ranking instructor is involved: an instructor-examiner. Behind him is an instructor-inspector-examiner. And eventually the unnecessary skill will be eliminated. I would like to emphasize that pilots have a very positive attitude towards this practice. Directly in flight, the aircraft commander is responsible for everything. Whatever happened, whoever was piloting at that moment, the commander is responsible for everything, because he had to intervene and correct the mistake. But the next person responsible for the deviation will be his instructor. After the precondition for an aviation accident or after an accident, all the documents are brought up, the transcripts are looked at, and it is immediately clear that the pilot, say, has had some skill for two years. But the instructor did not pay enough attention or did not conduct additional training. And everyone, right down to the company’s flight director, will be held accountable if it turns out that work with the flight crew was carried out improperly.

But regulations and rules are probably not everything. What role does personal experience play in your profession?

There is a term “man-machine connection”. Each specific person behaves differently in this connection, and although everything is standardized, there are no identical weather conditions or identical airplanes. They are all different. The plane has its own character, everything is, of course, within the normal range, but they have their own characteristics. Understanding this comes with experience. Just because you're an ace on one plane doesn't mean you'll be just as good on another. That is, you need to “arrive” and get used to it, as well as study the technical data of the aircraft and its design. This is learned. And every year this is checked, studies are carried out. The pilot must know various technical details: how much kerosene and how much oil is placed, what speeds for extending and retracting the flaps, restrictions on temperatures and pressures, etc. After all, when you have violated something, you cannot make the excuse that you forgot. For example, the maximum engine temperature at start-up is 725 degrees, and if it reaches 740 degrees, then the engine needs to be seriously and long-term examined. And the engine in an airplane is the most important and expensive part. So, the key to a successful flying career is knowledge of equipment and its proper operation!

And also, when you read materials about plane crashes (there is a website called aviation-disasters.ru, etc.), you see that all disasters involving the human factor come down to the fact that someone didn’t do what they should have done, or something was wrong - completed. And you make a mental note to yourself: I haven’t done this before, but now I definitely won’t. Therefore, it is both interesting and useful for a pilot to read this, including for experience.

Would you like to know a little about how your family survived the Great Patriotic War?

My grandfather, my mother’s father, died in the war. Grandfather was a simple driver, and he was called from Belgorod. He died in 1941 near the city of Klin in the Moscow region. Of course, I didn’t see him in person, but my grandmother, his widow, told me a lot about him.

What does the seventieth anniversary of victory mean to you?

I thought a lot about this issue, especially now, when we have Victory Day and its celebration has been reduced to show parades and is perceived only as a means of propaganda. But we forget about the existence of veterans, of whom there are very few left. In general, I believe that there is no need to flaunt tanks and guns and shake your fists. "A Farewell to Arms!" – this should become the motto of humanity. My grandmother never celebrated Victory Day. I always cried and never understood what was so festive about Victory Day? I think that in order to better understand what kind of time it was, we need to turn to the memories of people who at least remembered the war. By the way, even modern films about war, if you manage to watch them to the end, leave a strange feeling. I believe that good war films ended somewhere in the early 1980s. Everything that was filmed later is very far from the war time. In films and books created in the first decades after the end of the war, there is less pathos and falsehood: after all, they were often created by people who went through the war, and were evaluated by the strictest judges - front-line soldiers. But now no one invites veterans and asks them to evaluate what is in movies, literature, and television shows.

"A Farewell to Arms!" – this should become the motto of humanity.

Thank you very much for such an interesting conversation. Good luck to you in your achievements!

Text: Ksenia Eggert

Photo: http://powerk.livejournal.com/23748.html;

provided by Vladislav Khasanov

In the worst of old times, I divided all phases of flight into four clear fears:

1) takeoff when flying there;

1) landing when flying there;

3) takeoff during the flight back;

4) landing on the flight back.

Why did I do this? Because society has brainwashed me so much that it has made me believe that takeoff and landing are the most dangerous parts of flight.

My first draft of the questionnaire included two questions that I subsequently omitted:

1) form of movement;

2) what stage of the flight do you consider the most dangerous?

Ironically, the answer to the first question was always yes. Likewise, the answer to the second question was invariably the same: landing and takeoff. What's the irony here? The point is that although each answer seems correct, they contradict each other. If the flight is safe, then how can we say that takeoff and landing are dangerous? In fact, it is the wording of the second question that is the cause of this logical fallacy. Landings and takeoffs are not dangerous, and the truth is that no part of the flight poses a risk.

However, because relatively few accidents often occur during takeoff or landing, our brains are fooled into believing that these maneuvers are actually dangerous. They are no more scary than the start and stop of a train. The wording of the question creates the impression that flying is actually dangerous.

Even after I learned to take flights in stride, my wife and I always held hands during takeoff and landing. And when each takeoff or landing ended safely, we smiled at each other, as if we had survived an avalanche or a hurricane. Why did we behave this way? After all, we did not perform such a ritual using other modes of transport. I know now that I personally did this because I sincerely believed that I had experienced some very important event. But why did such a need arise for Joyce, who claimed that she never suffered from a fear of flying?

We continue this ritual to this day. I can't speak for Joyce, but I do it not because I'm afraid of taking off or landing, but because it has become a sweet, beloved habit that reminds me of the times when I didn't so much hold her hand as I almost broke it. fingers. Joyce says she's not afraid of flying because if we die, at least we die together. I find this comforting and flattering, but the fact that we don't hold hands when we board a bus or train means she must see significantly more opportunities to die during takeoff or landing.

Let's now explain what makes takeoff and landing completely safe. You have taxied safely to the main runway. The engines have already been started and have just been checked, as has the rest of the plane. The captain revs up the engines and then releases the brakes. The plane begins to take off along the runway. It reaches that speed where you instinctively feel that the plane should take off. But he doesn't take off. You realize that something is going wrong. That's when you start to regret bringing your golf clubs and worry about whether you have enough runway. You discover that you yourself are trying to physically lift the plane. You want to shout to all the passengers:

“Well, come on! If we all concentrate our efforts, we can get this thing off the ground!”

In all likelihood, your feelings are correct; the pilot could well have taken off at the speed you felt. So why didn't he do it? Because he wants to survive, just like you.

The exact speed at which the pilot must pull the handle is calculated in advance. The airline doesn't weigh your luggage just to get you more money in excess weight fees. She knows the weight of the plane itself, but she also needs to know the number of passengers and crew, the weight of cargo and fuel. Based on this data, the exact speed at which the plane must run in order to take off is calculated.

However, taking off at this particular speed would be very risky: the slightest error in calculations, a change in wind strength, or a failure in any of the engines at the time of takeoff could cause the plane to lose speed. Therefore, the pilot does not even try to take off at this speed. As with everything related to modern civil aviation, there is a safety margin built into the aircraft's takeoff run. If we talk about takeoff speed, then this margin is about 30%. Therefore, if the actual takeoff speed is 240 km/h, this means that the pilot could take off at a speed of about 180 km/h.

How does a pilot keep a plane on the ground when the laws of aerodynamics dictate that the plane must take off at a speed of 180 km/h? Here he is helped by a control system that makes it possible to change the shape of the aircraft. Both the wings and tail have movable parts. They are called flaps. Think about a hat with a brim. If the brim sag, the hat is unlikely to fly off your head. If they are raised up, then no pins will hold it.

During the initial phase of takeoff, the pilot uses flaps, similar to how spoilers (lift dampers) are used on cars, to keep the aircraft on the ground. When he reaches a speed at which the plane can take off without hindrance, he simply removes these flaps, and the airliner can only obey the laws of nature and soar upward.

The plane underwent technical inspection before it was towed to the runway. A wide, flat runway stretches out in front of the pilot. He accelerates to the calculated take-off speed, pulls back the lever, and the plane has no choice but to take off. What could happen here?

I'm sure you've remembered the many dangers. We will talk about them in the following chapters. Perhaps the most common fear is that

THE ENGINE WILL FAIL.

According to statistics, it is during the final stage of a flight, landing, that more than half of all air accidents occur. It lasts only a few minutes, but during this time the pilots need to perform many manipulations. Therefore, the probability of error is quite high.

Descending from flight level

Collision with another aircraft. While descending, the plane crosses several air levels. There is a danger of collision with another aircraft.

Collision with a mountain. Due to bad weather and radar failure or crew errors, the vehicle may crash into a mountain while descending.

Turns before landing

Danger of losing speed. At this stage, the most important task of the pilot is to reduce the speed of the aircraft from approximately 900 to 350 km/h. If the speed drops too quickly, the wings stop supporting the car. The cause of a large number of accidents is excessive loss of speed on turns.

Failure of wing mechanization. If during descent one flap comes out and the other does not, the plane will begin to turn. In this case, you can only rely on the skill of the crew.

Glide path descent

Danger of losing speed and colliding with the ground. Due to errors or malfunctioning equipment, an aircraft, especially one landing “blindly,” may land short of the runway. When landing, for example, on a plowed field at a speed of 350 km/h, the landing gear may not be able to withstand it.

Rough landing. There have been many cases in the history of aviation when pilots simply broke a plane by roughly “dropping” it onto the runway. Typically, such landings are preceded by other errors during descent and turns.

Collision with other aircraft. On runway Due to a controller error, there may be another plane. If the pilot of a landing airliner does not notice the danger and does not go around, an accident is inevitable.

Mileage after touching the stripe

Brake failure. Reverse failure. In these cases, the plane simply will not be able to stop. The inertia of cars weighing 100 tons, rushing at a speed of 250 km/h is a very serious force.

Chassis rupture, struts breakage. The aircraft landing gear has a high safety margin, but even they cannot withstand some overloads. A broken wheel even on a car traveling at a speed of 100 km/h can lead to disaster, but an airplane is 50-100 times heavier and its speed is three times higher.

The head of the flight method department, Tu-154 and A320 pilot-instructor Alexander Ushkov answers.

It is known that smoking is not allowed on board, but passengers still smoke in the toilets. How safe is it to fly?

Smoking on board the aircraft is strictly prohibited! The airliner flies at high speed, there is a lot of oxygen, as well as flammable substances. A fire on board is a terrible thing. If it starts in a hard-to-reach place, it is very difficult to extinguish it!

In this case, pilots have only one instruction - to land the plane as quickly as possible, including outside the airfield. So, at one time in America, almost 350 passengers burned to death in 15 minutes due to the fact that one of them smoked in the toilet of the liner and threw the cigarette butt into a container for paper waste! Nowadays, special sensors are installed in the toilets of every airliner, and if someone smokes, a red alarm goes off. Including in the cockpit. Red color means the most high level dangers on board. The violator may face a fine and transfer to the police upon boarding. By the way, in the USA, a passenger once locked himself in the toilet and smoked. When the flight attendant reprimanded him and asked him to leave, he was rude to her. The crew reported to the ground, 2 fighters immediately took off, and the airliner landed, accompanied by them. The smoker was given 20 years in prison.

Recently, an American pilot was forced to land his plane on a river because a flock of geese got into the engine. It turns out that every passenger exposes himself to danger - after all, birds fly every day...

Birds fly every day, but they very rarely get into airplane engines. At our airport, like others, there is an ornithological service that prevents the accumulation of birds near the airfield. This service is armed with acoustic, laser, and pyrotechnic installations that cause panic in birds.

It is important to keep birds away from the plane during takeoff and landing, since during the flight the birds and I are at different altitudes. By the way, if one goose hits, it most likely will not harm the plane, but a flock, as was the case in the USA, can disable the plane. It is impossible to close the engines with anything - the plane simply will not take off.

- Some say that the most dangerous moment is takeoff, others - landing. How is it really?

The threat of an emergency situation exists both during takeoff - the engines operate at high, almost maximum speed, the landing gear and fuselage bear a heavy load, and during landing. Especially in bad weather conditions. But the load on the pilot is greater during landing.

Special squad for the president

The head of the aviation security complex, Denis Muravyov, answers.

Our compatriots love to drink during the flight, and then start fights on board. Why don't airlines do anything about this problem? Why won't they ban the sale of alcohol in the cabin and at the airport?

We have rules of behavior for passengers on board, which also apply to drinking alcoholic beverages.

Firstly, an openly drunk person will not be allowed on the plane. Secondly, opening packages of alcohol purchased in duty stores free, prohibited in the salon. Flight attendants will also not offer free alcoholic drinks to a drunk passenger. But some still manage to drink heavily, start a scandal, fight, and so on. In this case, the commander has the right to land in any country in the world and hand over the rowdy to the hands of law enforcement agencies. In November 2008, we handed over 12 violators to foreign authorities. We can also seek compensation for damages through the court. Even if it is 100 rubles!

Now we are suing passengers, because of whose drunken antics the crew was forced to turn the plane back to St. Petersburg from the halfway point. By the way, in Europe such passengers are entered into the EU database and subsequently may be refused a visa. As for the ban on the sale of alcohol at airports, I am for it. But you won’t see this in any country in the world. Unless in Saudi Arabia. I would like to note that this is not only a Russian problem. Americans, French, Germans face this...

The head of the press service, Marina Peshekhonova, answers.

- Which planes do Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev prefer - domestic or foreign?

A special air squad is responsible for transporting senior officials. Its aircraft fleet historically consists only of Russian aircraft. This is board number 1 of the Il-96, as well as aircraft

Il-62, Yak-40, Tu-154 and Tu-134. So both the president and the prime minister fly on domestic airliners. And safety and comfort are guaranteed on any type of aircraft.