Why is it safe to fly on airplanes? What is more dangerous: takeoff or landing of an airplane? Dangerous times of airplane takeoff and landing

Videos from plane crash sites keep many tourists awake. And the fact that the probability of death in the sky is extremely small does not reassure everyone.

Soar in the sky like a bird - old dream person, which came true relatively recently. While everyone is used to traveling on land and has been doing it for many centuries, mass flights have become possible relatively recently. The Wright brothers made the first controlled flight in 1903, and since then aviation has rapidly entered the life of mankind. And with it comes the eternal question: is it dangerous to fly on an airplane?

According to statistics, . However, despite the obvious convenience, half of the people who have been in the sky at least once have experienced anxiety during the flight. Fear is especially common among older people and pregnant women, due to their low stress tolerance. Although this is not alien to other categories of the population. Approximately 15% of people are susceptible to aerophobia to varying degrees, some refuse air travel forever.

Many people judge the dangers of flying based on press stories about plane crashes. Now you can freely watch footage from the scene of any crash; the details are savored in the press and broadcast across all media.

Few people realize that there are far more fatal car accidents. So much so that there won’t be enough airtime to talk about them all. Approximately 1,200 people die in plane crashes every year, while due to car accidents 1.2 million are sent to the next world. By the way, hippos, lightning and obesity kill more people per year than airplanes.

The crew sees a person who is afraid to fly immediately: a frightened look, trembling hands, sweating. They try to calm such people down so that the panic does not worsen or become contagious. The fear that the crew will make a mistake is partly justified; in most air crashes, the root cause is human error.

There is no need to worry that the pilot will fall asleep. In addition to him, there is a second pilot and an autopilot who will not leave the car without control. There is also no need to be afraid of system failure. Each of them is interchangeable, everything is thought out, they weren’t built by fools. Even in case of engine failure, there is a second, and sometimes a third.

Why is it dangerous to fly on an airplane?

There is a very real danger of a bird getting into the engine. If it is a small bird, then the consequences will be tragic only for the bird itself. If, for example, a crow flies into the engine, this can cause serious consequences for the engine. But there are no birds at flight altitude, and airports have special scarers.

Whether it is dangerous to fly on airplanes can be judged by the number of crashes. If initially, with the development of air transport, the number of accidents increased, then since the 80s of the last century this trend has been interrupted. Over the past ten years, the number of plane crashes has decreased by 36%. IN Western Europe and in America, plane crashes have become rare in general. Some African countries are on the black list of disadvantaged countries, Latin America and Asia.

What is more dangerous, taking off or landing a plane?

It is not for nothing that these actions of the pilots are accompanied by a request to hide their phones and are met with thunderous applause from passengers. Why are airplane takeoffs and landings dangerous? Because they are the ones that require the most effort and experience from the pilot, especially at complex airports.

During takeoff, there is a high chance of engine failure due to extreme load. The board is loaded with people and fuel, and the altitude has not yet been gained. The largest plane crash in terms of the number of victims occurred during takeoff. In 1977, 583 people died when two planes collided in Tenerife.

Landing frightens passengers with its vibration and impact with the ground, and pilots, sometimes even experienced ones, with its unpredictability. Pilots even have a saying for the occasion: “takeoff is dangerous, flight is beautiful, landing is difficult.” During landing, much depends on the skill of the crew. The longer and wider the runway landing strip, the easier it is to land the car.

Thus, both processes are equally dangerous, but for different reasons. Takeoff - due to the risk of equipment failure, landing - due to complete dependence on the actions of the pilot. According to statistics, most accidents occur during landing.

Real dangers

If the risk of crashing is truly minimal, then there are more realistic reasons why airplanes are dangerous to fly. For example, the danger of catching an infection. The air in the cabin circulates using pumps, and is not always quickly replaced by fresh air. Given the confined space, even one sick person can infect half of the passengers. When flying to unfavorable countries, the crew plays it safe and sprays an insecticide in the cabin that protects against infection.

Thrombosis that occurs during prolonged sitting can cause harm to health. Therefore, it is better not to sit too long, but to do something, sometimes get up or do special exercises to prevent the blood from stagnating.

It is dangerous to fly often and for long periods of time. In 200 hours of flight you can receive the maximum permissible dose of radiation, and if you fly supersonic speeds, then the time is reduced to 80 hours. Long flights contribute to disruption of biorhythms. Flights to the east or crossing time zones are especially dangerous in this regard. The overall performance of the body, sleep, and the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract are disrupted.

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 passenger air transportation is carried out 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.

To get to their destination, travelers can choose different type transport, but the fastest and most convenient was and remains the modern airliner. However, many passengers are afraid of air travel, and they choose another carrier, which copes with its work much more slowly. Fear of air travel should be considered as a psychological problem, because in fact, transport is considered the safest means of transportation. And the most dangerous take-offs and landings of aircraft on video clips and in films are most often just imaginations of film directors. So, in this article we will try to analyze whether air travel is dangerous for a passenger and which stage of the flight can be considered the most dangerous.

Air travel can be divided into several stages:

• takeoff;
• the stage of air transport being in the airspace;
• landing of air transport.

According to analytical studies, emergency situations occur when an airliner takes off from the ground and during landing. You can watch the dangerous take-offs and landings of the plane on video, but you should not believe their complete veracity. After all, it’s not uncommon for such stories to be taken from famous films in order to increase traffic to their own website. But now we will try to get a truthful answer.

What is more dangerous: takeoff or landing?

In fact, there is a possibility of emergency situations occurring both during takeoff and landing of an airliner. And once the aircraft rises to a sufficient altitude, air travel will become much safer. This is quite simple to explain - the plane is in close proximity with the ground, so there is very little time left to change the malfunction, which leads to an emergency situation.

So what is more dangerous: taking off or landing a plane? In fact, there are two stages of air travel that pose risks, so it’s worth considering them in more detail.

The famous water landing on the river. Hudson. Based on the event, the feature film “Miracle on the Hudson” was shot.

Taking off an airliner - what is its danger?

So, taking off an airplane is potentially dangerous, why is this stage considered so? There are several reasons that can cause an emergency during takeoff:

1. Engine operation at takeoff speeds. The fact is that engines operating in this mode can fail and prevent the airliner from leaving the runway. The pilot can independently decide to take off or brake if he notices a malfunction in the engine.
2. Incorrectly calculated aircraft configuration. This position must be calculated by the pilot of the aircraft before the aircraft takes off, but, unfortunately, whether the alignment of the aircraft will be correct can be found out only after the aircraft takes off from the runway.
3. Strong headwind. No less dangerous during takeoff are strong gusts of side wind, which can simply blow the airliner onto the adjacent runway, resulting in an emergency.

Of course, these are the most common reasons that can await an airliner with passengers upon takeoff. The most dangerous landings The aircraft in the video can be seen in full.

Danger when landing

Dangerous landings passenger aircraft also take place. The following reasons for risky situations can be listed:

1. Wind flows (both directional and lateral). If there is a strong crosswind, it will be very difficult for the pilot to control the airliner, which can lead to an unsuccessful landing.
2. No less scary for a plane coming in to land is a sudden redirection of the wind. If it changes sharply or stops altogether, the airliner will simply lose altitude, and when landing, the required altitude may simply not be available.
3. Bad visibility. The airliner must approach for landing in excellent visibility. And if it is possible to lift a vehicle into the sky even in fog, then landing should be carried out in poor visibility based on visual references. In order for pilots to be able to make normal landings in poor visibility, they are required to take annual exams.
4. Checking alignment. As previously mentioned, the alignment of the airliner is done by the pilot before the plane takes off. But since the plane loses its fuel supply in the sky, by the time of landing it may turn out that the previously adjusted alignment has changed. This moment must be monitored in order to prevent an emergency. And you can stabilize the alignment using fairly simple methods, for example, asking passengers to move to another part of the plane or to another cabin.
5. Insufficient grip of the landing gear on the runway. Quite often, an emergency situation can occur due to insufficient adhesion coefficient. A sudden change can lead to it weather conditions, as a result of which the landing strip will become covered with ice and it will be very difficult to control air transport.

As you can see, real dangers, of course, exist, but thanks to the experience and skills of the pilots, they can be quite easily dealt with and successfully lifted into the sky or, on the contrary, landed a modern airliner with passengers on board.

Thousands of flights take place every day between different cities, countries, and 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 ones. 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 this was, by the way, a compulsory subject 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, and 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 rapidly. 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 safely complete the flight.

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, 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. There are flight squads, within squadrons there are squadrons, within squadrons there is a commander, deputy commander, and instructors. The instructor flies with each pilot in his group from time to time and knows well who has what strengths and weaknesses. 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 premise to aircraft 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, had some skill that was lame 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

What is harder and more dangerous for an airplane: takeoff or landing?

It seems to me that both are very difficult and dangerous. As a rule, all plane crashes occur during takeoff or landing, and when the planes gain the required altitude, a crash is no longer likely. But when landing there must be experienced pilots, as anything can happen.

I don’t know about the plane itself, but landing is always more difficult for pilots.

On takeoff, the main thing is to engine thrust It didn’t disappoint and the plane easily takes off after gaining speed. But even if the engines suddenly fail when accelerating, then the maximum trouble is driving out of lane. It’s worse if, after liftoff, something suddenly happens to the engines.

Landing is more difficult and dangerous in the sense that you need to accurately enter the runway. The slightest excess of the rate of descent is rough landing, not reaching the runway or overflying threatens an accident, the contact is made exactly on the white longitudinal stripes on the runway.

Strong side winds, fog, and snow all complicate landing. Problems with the wing mechanization, non-exit of the landing gear threatens an accident, failure of the thrust reverser of the engines or brakes leads to rolling out of the runway.

So pilots have more worries on landing.

Both are dangerous. But to answer the question specifically, it’s landing. To explain this, we need to consider how both stages are dangerous. So, why is takeoff dangerous?

1. During takeoff, the engines operate in takeoff mode. There is a danger of their failure during the take-off run of the aircraft, due to which it will not be able to either take off the ground or stop on the runway. Therefore, during the takeoff run, there is a point, after passing which the pilot makes a decision whether to take off or slow down. If the failure occurs after passing the boundary point, takeoff is carried out under any conditions. even on the same engine.
2. The second danger is incorrect alignment. Before takeoff, the pilot sets the so-called takeoff configuration of the aircraft. Releases the flaps to a certain angle and shifts the stabilizer. How exactly the plane is centered is calculated. The pilot can determine whether his calculation is correct only after lifting off the ground.
3. Side wind. It can interfere with the take-off run and cause the plane to drift off the runway.

These are the most common hazards during takeoff. WHEN PLANTING THERE ARE WAY MORE OF THEM.

1. Wind. Both side and course. In a strong crosswind, heading control is difficult.
2. Wind shear. The plane stays in the air due to the air flow around its aerodynamic elements. If there is a strong headwind during landing, then the speed is the sum of the wind speed and the speed of the aircraft. If the wind changes direction or suddenly stops, the plane suddenly loses altitude. When landing, there may no longer be any reserve height.
3. Visibility. If it is theoretically possible to take off in fog, then when landing, visual cues play a much greater role. Pilots have a classification division, according to which they take a landing test in limited visibility conditions. These categories are called weather minimums. It needs to be periodically confirmed in practice.
4. Maintaining parameters according to instruments. The so-called instrumental approach. The pilot must be able to, as it is called in slang, collect arrows in a bunch. Those. have a correct understanding of the spatial position of the aircraft, relying only on instrument readings, and be able to correctly fly the aircraft without external references.
5. Centering on landing. Upon arrival at the destination, the fuel has already been used up, and the plane has become lighter. However, the cargo and passengers are in place (in most cases). Thus, the aircraft's alignment has changed since takeoff. It is important to evaluate it correctly so that there is a margin for controls. In this regard, sometimes pilots ask passengers to move from cabin to cabin, or change seats from left to right (or vice versa), especially if the flight is not fully loaded.
6. Coefficient of adhesion. After touching down, there may be a danger of the aircraft skidding, or problems with braking due to the condition of the runway. It may be more slippery than the pilot expects. It is important to be able to navigate instantly.
7. It is important to land exactly on the signs marked on the runway so that there is no undershoot or overshoot. When following the CGS exactly, this condition is met. At airports not equipped with a glide path system, this poses additional difficulties.

This makes landing more difficult. When the famous Soviet pilot V. Ershov was asked what the most difficult aerobatic maneuver was, he immediately answered - landing.