The pilot explains how difficult it is: The man believes he can land the plane every second

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A healthy self-confidence is good. But some people tend to overestimate themselves. Men are particularly at risk, a January survey in the United States showed. They were asked if they had confidence that they could land a plane with the guidance of air traffic control, without any experience. Almost half of the men surveyed said they could handle the situation.

Is it really that simple? Can you really land a plane as an ordinary person? “Some of the passengers have a chance of survival,” Christoph Regli, head of the ZHAW aviation program, tells Blick. “But it’s more than that; whether a safe landing is successful or not depends on many factors.”

Air traffic control support

Regli worked as an airline pilot for several years, but today he also works as a freelance pilot and simulator instructor. According to the expert, if an ordinary person has to land a passenger plane, the most important factor will be radio contact with air traffic control: “If someone from the ground staff, who knows his way around, connects, the chances potentially increase.”

So how will this work? First you need to contact air traffic control via headset. “Then comes significant support from the ground: The machine has to be directed to the airport. “You have to think about the landing and plan enough time,” Regli explains.

Air traffic control will then need to explain how the flaps are adjusted and the landing gear extended. Then the speed needs to be reduced. Then things get difficult: You have to pedal as soon as the wheels touch the ground. Brakes! Once this is completed the engine is turned off and then we can celebrate. Mission landing was successful.

“Only experience is required”

“There is no guarantee of a safe landing,” Regli emphasizes. “A lot depends on communication with air traffic control. “Depending on the type of aircraft, the risk of a hard landing is high: the machinery could break or a fire could break out.”

So it’s not as easy as most people believe. There is a lot of theory at the beginning of pilot training: aeronautics, communications, flight technology, navigation, aerodynamics and even psychology. “In practice, a lot of practice is done in the flight simulator,” says the ZHAW instructor.

You then start with small aircraft before working as a first officer on large passenger aircraft. “Once you gain a lot of experience, you become a flight captain. “This is a long and, above all, expensive thing.”

But the flight simulator alone is not enough: “It helps you get to know the system,” says Regli. “But that doesn’t help you get the feel of the plane; you just need the experience.”

Source : Blick