Can you secure a plane in trouble?

(CNN) – This is an unfortunate scenario: your flight cannot be piloted and someone will have to get in their seat and land on the plane. Can you do

This is the latest in a series of talk-downs like luck, where an airplane lands safely with the help of someone from the ground or an airplane.

There is one common denominator in these events: they all apply to Cessna aircraft.

These small planes were the favorite of the flying schools because they were stable and easy to navigate, and as a result they became popular with flying enthusiasts.

A happy example

According to Douglas Moss, an FAA -certified flight instructor and former United Airlines pilot, although it is very difficult to land a plane without knowledge, certain conditions can be given, as in the events above.

First, they are energetic people who know they are in a life -or -death situation. Second, help the flying instructor on the radio to communicate with them on each activity. And last but not least, some natural talent for managing a mechanical device.

“For example, you can quickly switch and understand the relationship between an aircraft’s flight components, such as steering and throttle, and their aerodynamic response,” Moss said. But without any of these conditions, he adds, things can go wrong.

On large aircraft such as airplanes, however, a very good example may fall short, such as Patrick Smith, a pilot who flies a Boeing 767 and author of the famous book and with the blog “Ask the Pilot.”

Smith believes that no one without knowledge can fly the power of commercial aircraft at high altitudes.

“The pilot doesn’t have the idea of ​​making talk radios, except to fly and land on an airplane,” he said.

No driver landed on the plane, but that was mostly because no one tried.

Andreas Prodromou, the pilot, thought about using a portable oxygen tank, but only got access to the cockpit minutes before the engines fired.

A better example is where the plane is pre -arranged for landing and lined with runway, not at sea level.

“The challenges are against you a lot, but the consequences are different from individual and flight to flight,” Smith said.

“Where is the plane from the runway in terms of altitude, distance and speed? And how accurately does this man’s seat-of-pants explain the plane’s operation? The most of it, go down. to be lucky. ”

Does trust help?

How about flight simulation software, like the popular Microsoft Flight Simulator? They can give you a lot better, Smith said.

“A smart gamer might save the day. But high -end hobby sims aren’t really real. The devil is in the details – there are changes, tweaks and system features that you haven’t seen before. ., but can change life or death in the scenes we are talking about. “

“While telling us they knew landing a plane required a lot of knowledge, those who watched the video were 28.6% more confident that they could land a plane with immortality, about those who don’t, ”said Kayla Jordan, one of the study’s authors.

This is why when novices learn a little about a difficult task, says Jordan, their confidence in their work increases rapidly, something called the Dunning-End effect. Kruger.

In practice, this kind of trust is more effective for men than for women.

“Whether they watched the video or not, we found that men were more confident in their ability to board a plane than women by about 12%,” Jordan said. . “This knowledge about performance makes men more confident in their knowledge and abilities than women, even at a higher level, such as running or running. diving. “

There’s an easy way to test this misconception, and see exactly if a newcomer can land a plane, like Patrick Smith: use a professional flight simulator, train operators to train their plates.

“Hold a person in a full -fledged flight simulator at 35,000 feet, without assistance, and see what comes next,” he said. “It’s not pretty.”

Top photo credit: ERIC PIERMONT / AFP via Getty Images