Trusting the Pilot…the “white-knuckle” Flier

Some of us are fearful fliers…but when boarding a plane we have to trust the pilots at the controls. We pray they are experienced; are sober; not asleep….etc.

We take off and all is well.

It’s time to land…and again we “white-knuckle” fliers pray, “Lord, Put Your Hand of mercy under us.”

What the pilot sees as he starts a landing decent is not what we passengers see unless we are in an airline with a big screen and they choose to let us see. ( I watched the actual take off and decent on an Japanese airline…just as the pilot would see.)

These are professionals who know what they are doing. ..except in the case of Asiana Airlines that recently crashed in California.  The flight recorder or black box revealed ” that the plane was ‘significantly below’ its intended speed and its crew tried to abort the landing less than two seconds before it hit a seawall, severing the tail section of the plane and almost flipping onto one side. ‘He was training,’ a spokeswoman for Asiana Airlines said of the pilot.”

Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 with 300 aboard

Most pilots have flown into all kinds of airports…big and small.. many times.   It is the really unusual missions that make us catch our breath.  Below are some runways  and actions that you may amaze you.

Macao International Airport

Wake Island in Pacific Ocean

Kuujjuaraapik, Quebec

Tioman Island off the coast of Malaysia

Canadian Military on rock off Greenwood

A Pennsylvania  National Guard pilot, who flies in civilian life, perches on building while military loads  wounded in Afghanistan. Amazing!