Ready for Takeoff? Shocking Plane Facts You Should Know Today

Bright Side

Get ready to soar with fascinating plane facts! Did you know that there are planes that have lost their roofs mid-flight but still landed safely? Discover the incredible reasons why planes don't have bird barriers and more in this intriguing aviation exploration. Buckle up and join us on this high-flying adventure! ✈️ #PlaneFacts   Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00 You've probably seen Hollywood movies where somehow a small hole opens up in

00:05 the side of a plane and then immediately it's utter chaos. Food trays and bags

00:09 flying, seatbelts barely holding passengers in place. Luckily in reality

00:15 small damage to the fuselage won't cause such traumatic consequences. But would

00:20 you believe me if I told you there was a pilot that managed to land the plane

00:23 with half the roof torn completely off? Buckle up. At 125 p.m. on April 28th

00:31 1988 a 19 year old Boeing 737 that belonged to Aloha Airlines left Hilo

00:38 International Airport and headed for Honolulu. The plane was named after Queen

00:42 Liliuokalani who was the last sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. On that

00:47 day the aircraft already had three short flights from Honolulu to Hilo, Maui and

00:52 Kauai. Apologies to the people of Hawaii for any mispronounced names. Anyway all

00:59 the trips were regular and uneventful. The weather was calm and it seemed like

01:04 nothing could go wrong. The captain was experienced pilot Robert

01:08 Shorensteiner, 44 years old, who had 6,700 flight hours in the Boeing 737. The first

01:16 officer was Madeline Tompkins, 36 years old, who had flown more than 3,500 hours

01:21 in the very same Boeing model. Early in the morning, still in Honolulu, the first

01:25 officer had conducted the regular pre-flight inspection and announced that

01:29 the plane was ready for the flight. At 11 a.m. the plane left Honolulu and headed

01:34 for Maui and then to Hilo. When the plane arrived at the destination the pilots

01:38 didn't leave the cockpit or inspect the aircraft from the outside. After all it

01:43 wasn't a requirement so they didn't have to. Following schedule the plane started

01:48 the last leg on the routine round-trip at 125 p.m. There were 95 people on board

01:54 the aircraft, 89 passengers, two pilots, three flight attendants, and an FAA

01:59 traffic controller who stayed in the observer seat in the cockpit. After a

02:04 normal takeoff and ascent the plane got to the usual cruising altitude of 24,000

02:09 feet and then at about 148 p.m. 26 miles away from Kauaului the unexpected

02:16 happened. Those who were in the cockpit heard a loud whooshing sound and then a

02:21 crack followed by the deafening sound of wind seconds later. Apparently a small

02:26 part of the roof on the left side tore loose which led to the explosive

02:30 decompression of the plane. But the worst thing was that the decompression caused

02:34 a ripple effect which led to a huge section of the airplane's roof to tear

02:38 off completely. The length of the missing part was 18.5 feet long. It was all part

02:45 of the aircraft's skin that covered the plane from the cockpit back to the

02:49 forewing area. At first the pilots didn't realize what had happened. The first

02:54 officer who was in control of the aircraft at that moment felt her head

02:57 jerk backward and she noticed debris and gray pieces of insulation flying

03:02 chaotically around the cockpit. When the captain turned his head he saw that the

03:07 cockpit door had disappeared and instead of the first-class ceiling he was

03:11 staring at a clear blue sky. The plane started to roll from side to side and it

03:17 was becoming increasingly harder to control. Everybody who was in the cockpit

03:21 immediately put on their oxygen masks and the captain took over the aircraft.

03:25 He prod the speed brakes into action and began an emergency descent towards the

03:29 nearest airport which was on Maui Island. Luckily all the passengers were in their

03:35 seats at the moment when the accident happened and since the seatbelt site was

03:39 still on everyone had their seatbelts fastened. However all three flight

03:43 attendants were standing along the aircraft aisle. The one who was the

03:47 closest to the front of the plane was swept out through the hole in the roof.

03:51 The other two were thrown to the floor by a forceful jerk but while one of them

03:57 hit her head really hard and lost consciousness the other one started to

04:01 crawl along the aisle in an attempt to help passengers and calm them down. At

04:07 that same time the pilots were trying to contact air traffic control and signal

04:11 an emergency. To make matters worse they couldn't hear each other and had to use

04:16 gestures to communicate. They also didn't know whether the radio worked and whether

04:21 they had managed to deliver their message. The flight controls were sluggish

04:25 and loose and the captain was struggling to control the plane. The first officer

04:30 right by his side dealing with communication and assisting the captain.

04:34 It turned out that the controller hadn't been receiving the crews messages until

04:39 the aircraft descended to the altitude of 14,000 feet. Only then did the signal

04:45 get through and Maui Tower started urgent preparations for an emergency

04:49 landing. The problem was that at that time in case of an emergency the airport

04:55 control tower had to dial 911 just like anyone else. On top of that the

05:00 controller didn't cash the passengers and crew members would need medical

05:04 help. After all the crew only announced that they had experienced a rapid

05:08 decompression so the controller wasn't aware of the entire gravity of the

05:12 situation. In the meantime the plane had already dropped to a height of 10,000

05:18 feet above sea level. The captain removed his oxygen mask and withdrew the speed

05:22 brakes. The plane was steadily descending toward runway 2 of Kaualouie Airport.

05:26 Following the captain's command the first officer lowered the landing gear

05:30 but the indicator light didn't come on. That could mean that either they had a

05:35 bad light or they had serious problems with the nose gear. But that wasn't the

05:40 only problem. As the plane was approaching the runway the left engine

05:44 failed and the aircraft started rocking and shaking. The captain made an attempt

05:49 to restart the engine but didn't succeed. And yet still with the help of the

05:55 reverse thrust of the second still working engine at 158 p.m. just 10

06:00 minutes after the emergency and 35 minutes after the takeoff, Aloha Airlines

06:04 flight 243 did manage to touch down on the runway of Kaualouie Airport and come

06:10 to a complete stop. Landing a plane with such a huge loss of integrity was an

06:16 unprecedented feat. As soon as the plane stopped the evacuation began. Everyone on

06:21 the plane except for the one flight attendant who had been pulled out of the

06:25 plane was alive. Although 65 people were injured. Most people had been hurt by

06:30 flying debris and torn pieces of fuselage. Unfortunately since nobody on

06:36 the ground had known how serious the situation was no ambulances were waiting

06:40 for the injured. The first one arrived seven minutes after the plane landed and

06:44 there were only two ambulances on the entire island which obviously couldn't

06:48 fit all the people. That's why the passengers had to be transported to the

06:52 hospital in several 15 passenger tour vans that belonged to the company Akamai

06:57 Tours. Luckily two Akamai drivers used to be paramedics so they started to tend to

07:03 the injured right on the runway. Meanwhile airport mechanics as well as

07:08 office staff drove the vans to the hospital which was three miles away.

07:12 Luckily there were only eight serious injuries from which all of these

07:16 passengers later recovered. As for the plane it was damaged beyond repair and

07:22 later dismantled right at the airport. The missing part of the roof disappeared

07:26 and was never seen again. But what could cause such a terrible accident? The

07:33 problem wasn't the age of the aircraft. 19 years isn't that old for a commercial

07:36 plane and it hadn't accumulated too many flight hours before the accident

07:40 happened. But the 35,500 flight hours the plane had traveled included 89,680

07:47 takeoffs and landings which are also called flight cycles. The reason for such

07:52 a huge number was that the plane performed mostly short domestic flights

07:56 between the islands. And this number exceeded the number of flight cycles the

08:00 plane was designed for twice over. Besides the plane traveled in a salty

08:06 humid environment which also added to the wear and tear. Interestingly during

08:11 one interview that followed the accident passenger Gail Yamamoto remembered that

08:16 she had spotted a crack in the fuselage when she was boarding. Unfortunately she

08:21 was the only one who had seen the damage and the woman hadn't thought that the

08:25 crack was important enough to inform the crew. It's important to stress that these

08:29 kinds of accidents are extremely rare these days. According to Harvard

08:33 University given all the steps and measures major airlines and airports

08:37 take to ensure safety the odds of you being in an airplane accident is roughly

08:42 one in 1.2 million. That's a 0.000083% chance. I don't know about you but I like

08:52 those odds. And even if something were to happen like for example half the roof

08:56 falling off it's a great comfort to know that your trained pilots can still land

09:01 the plane relatively safely. Have you ever wondered what would happen if

09:06 someone opened an airplane door accidentally? This wouldn't end well. It

09:11 would be very dangerous to say the least. More specifically soon there would be a

09:16 lack of oxygen in the cabin but gladly no one can open that door accidentally.

09:22 The pressure difference between inside and outside makes it almost impossible.

09:27 It would take some immense strength to open it. The doors are designed to open

09:33 on their own in case of an emergency. Speaking of safety during takeoff and

09:38 landing the crew dims the light in the cabin. This is done for a good reason.

09:43 This way in case of emergency you will see everything more clearly. Your eyes

09:49 will get used to the darkness and you'll have an easier time evacuating. Now about

09:55 pilots. They always wear those cool sunglasses but the purpose is not to

10:00 look cooler. They're used to protect the eyes. Throughout their career pilots have

10:06 to take care of their vision but the problem is that it's not an easy task

10:10 when you're a pilot. The damaging solar radiation that our Sun emits is filtered

10:15 out by the Earth's atmosphere so the sunlight isn't very damaging to you if

10:19 you spend most of your time on the ground. But it's different up in the sky.

10:24 There's less air there and the brightness is way higher and with every

10:29 1,000 feet of elevation the solar radiation is around 5% stronger. On

10:35 average aircraft fly at an altitude of 35,000 feet. This means that the amount

10:41 of UV radiation is 175% greater than on the ground. This is very damaging to any

10:49 person's vision. The large amount of time pilots spend in the air makes them

10:54 vulnerable to different eye problems and having eye problems can cost a pilot

10:59 their career. So wearing sunglasses is a crucial thing for them and these

11:06 sunglasses must be of the best quality. They should minimize the impact of

11:11 sunlight and withstand UV rays providing 100% protection for the eyes. Also they

11:17 can't be polarized since polarization can mess with the perception of the

11:21 cockpit displays. They should provide the best clarity, decrease eye fatigue and

11:27 minimize color deformation so that pilots can see just like they would

11:32 without their sunglasses on. There are so many ways to make airplanes safer. For

11:38 example they could have ejector seats so that every passenger could be rescued. In

11:43 reality though it's way more difficult than it sounds. If there were ejector

11:48 seats your trip would be very different. Everyone would have to be strapped into

11:52 a seat with a harness to make sure they wouldn't fall out of it. Then you would

11:56 have to wear an oxygen mask all throughout the flight. An emergency can

12:00 occur at any time. Then ejection in itself is a big pressure on your body.

12:06 Even fighter pilots who are physically prepared can still suffer severe

12:10 injuries. For an average person this process wouldn't be safe. So however

12:15 cool it sounds ejection seats aren't very practical and are actually quite

12:20 dangerous. Okay well at least they could have a parachute for each passenger but

12:26 this wouldn't be very useful either. Parachutes only sound like they can save

12:30 many lives. First having them isn't efficient. They're very costly and heavy.

12:36 So a plane would need to burn more fuel while flying if there were parachutes on

12:41 board. It would all be worth it though if parachutes could make an actual

12:46 difference to the safety of people but they can't. Commercial planes aren't

12:50 designed in a way that would make it safe to jump out of them especially with

12:54 a couple hundred people on board. Next passengers aren't trained to use them.

12:59 Imagine there's an emergency. The plane is falling and 200 people are trying to

13:04 deal with a parachute for the first time in their lives. It would be an absolute

13:08 mess. Lastly it's not safe to jump from the high altitudes planes fly in. So

13:14 oxygen masks, life vests and boats are the best life-saving equipment and every

13:20 plane has those. You know those huge engines that they have under the wings?

13:25 Yeah look at them. They don't look safe at all. Birds can get pulled in and it

13:31 actually happens. They could at least put a grate in front of the rotating parts

13:35 to prevent birds from getting in there. Turns out those engines pull inside huge

13:41 amounts of air and this is crucial for them to work properly. The more air gets

13:46 swallowed the more air gets compressed mixed with fuel and burned and then more

13:52 of it gets pushed out from the other side keeping the plane going. A cover at

13:57 the front would be a barrier significantly reducing the air inflow

14:01 that is crucial for the proper work of the engines and this would endanger the

14:05 passengers. But hey don't be too upset. Birds fly way lower than planes do so

14:11 they're only in danger for a few minutes at the beginning of the flight while the

14:15 plane is climbing altitude and at the very end when the plane is landing. So

14:20 very few of them ever get pulled in and if they do it's never a threat to the

14:24 engines or a passenger safety. Planes also don't change up the gears like cars

14:30 do so technically they can't go backwards. The reason for this is that

14:34 planes don't need to go backward. They can just turn around and move in the

14:39 opposite direction but face first. The only time when they need to move

14:43 backward is when they have to get to the gate and for those times there is help.

14:48 Push-back tractors. Those are small vehicles that can connect to airplanes

14:53 and move them in the required direction. Watch out for those next time you fly.

14:57 But technically speaking planes can go backward if the engines start pushing

15:02 the air forward instead of backward but this is very dangerous for everyone

15:06 around. One of the very few cases when they do it is during landing to help

15:11 slow the airplane down. There are cameras on the outside that let pilots navigate

15:17 taxiways better. They come in especially handy during tricky maneuvering. But do

15:22 you know there are also cameras in airplane cabins? You can relax there are

15:27 no cameras in the laboratories. But yes they are there in the cabin and for

15:33 security reasons only. Flight attendants monitor them to see what's not visible

15:37 from their own seats. Of course flight attendants can check everything just by

15:42 walking down the cabin and that's exactly what they do most of the time. So

15:46 cameras are mostly used during takeoff and landing when everyone including

15:51 flight attendants is supposed to sit down as those are the most dangerous

15:55 stages of a flight. Notice that it's exactly during these stages that the

16:01 rules are particularly strict. All electronic devices should be turned off

16:05 or put on airplane mode and big electronic devices should be stored away.

16:11 Window blinds should be raised and tables folded. Seats should be put in the

16:16 upright position. You need to have your seatbelt fastened and so on. This is all

16:20 done for safety and to ensure fast evacuation in case of emergency. So let's

16:25 discuss these rules. Airplane mode on electronic devices is important to make

16:30 sure that the signals that devices transmit don't interfere with the

16:34 plane's electronic systems. If they interfere they will block the radios

16:38 frequency pilots need to get their instructions. Do you remember that

16:43 clicking sound a speaker makes right before your cell phone gets a call if

16:46 the two devices are closed? This is the sound pilots might hear while

16:50 communicating with air traffic control. Now putting away large devices like

16:56 laptops is important because they might turn into obstacles if you need to get

17:00 out of the plane fast in case of an emergency. All the pathways should be as

17:05 clear as possible. This is why everything should be packed away, seats straightened

17:10 and tables folded. There should be nothing blocking anyone's way. And lastly

17:16 window blinds. The lights on the airplane get turned off too. Those two things are

17:21 done to make sure your eyes get used to the natural light outside the aircraft.

17:26 Imagine it's night, some emergency happens and the lights that were left on

17:31 suddenly go off. People need to evacuate as fast as possible but their eyes

17:36 aren't adjusted to the dark yet and they can't see anything. This will slow

17:41 everyone down. If the lights inside are out people get used to the darkness and

17:47 will be able to evacuate faster. The same goes for window blinds. If it's day and

17:53 they are raised people are used to the light outside and can evacuate faster.

17:57 Another reason is that when blinds are raised during landing people outside can

18:02 see what's going on inside the plane. For example if there's fire or smoke and

18:07 where exactly. This way they can plan the evacuation process better. Also you might

18:15 have noticed black triangles drawn above some windows on the airplane. These

18:20 triangles mark the seats from which the view on the airplane's wings is the best.

18:25 It's needed for the crew to find the spot as fast as possible if in case of

18:31 emergency they need to inspect the engines, slats or flaps. This little

18:37 triangle saves the plane crew a lot of time. We do talk about emergencies a lot

18:44 but they really don't happen often. It's more dangerous to drive a car than to

18:49 fly by plane and most of us get in the car every day. Yet the fear of flying is

18:56 still very much out there and people can get superstitious. In many cultures the

19:03 number 13 is considered unlucky so airplane companies that often fly to

19:09 those destinations just omit row 13. It's a small thing to do but it can spare a

19:15 few anxious passengers who happen to sit in row 13. In other cultures like in

19:21 Italy and Brazil 17 is the unlucky number and some aircraft have both rows

19:27 13 and 17 missing. In airplanes that fly to China they can often omit row 14

19:33 instead. That's it for today so hey if you pacified your curiosity then give

19:41 the video a like and share it with your friends or if you want more just click

19:45 on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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