By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations “So the airplane autopilot basically flies the whole thing, right? The pilots just sit there?” I have heard this question more times than I can count — from friends, family, and passengers who assume that modern automation has made pilots redundant. … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations The pilot’s voice came over the radio, calm but clipped: “Incheon Tower, we had a bird strike on takeoff roll. Continuing departure. Will advise.” I checked the flight tracking display. The aircraft was climbing normally. Altitude, speed, heading — all exactly … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations You have seen the videos. A commercial aircraft approaching a runway sideways, nose pointed 20 degrees off the centerline, wings rocking, the whole thing looking like a controlled disaster. Then — impossibly — the pilot straightens out at the last second, … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations Cabin pressure airplane effects begin the moment the doors close. You are cruising at 35,000 feet. Outside your window, the temperature is -56°C. The air pressure is roughly one quarter of what it is at sea level. The oxygen level would … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed Flight Dispatcher | 15+ Years in Airline Operations After my turbulence article was published, the most common question I received was simple: “So where should I actually sit?” After my safety article, the question became: “What is the safest seat?” After my airplane sounds article: “Where is the quietest seat?” Every … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations It is 2 AM. The OCC is quiet. Most of the day-shift dispatchers have gone home. But on my screens, dozens of aircraft are crossing the night sky — Seoul to Bangkok, Incheon to Manila, Gimhae to Tokyo. Night flights are … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations A friend once texted me mid-flight: “There’s a loud thunk under the plane. Are we going to die?” I texted back after she landed: “That was the landing gear. You were never in danger. You were hearing the airplane doing exactly … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations Here is something most passengers do not know: every single commercial flight I have ever planned — every one of the tens of thousands I have dispatched in 15 years — was planned with the assumption that an engine might fail. … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations You have been descending for twenty minutes. You felt the landing gear drop — that reassuring thunk. Through the window, you can see the runway. Houses, cars, the airport fence. You are almost there. You tighten your seatbelt. Ten more seconds … Read more
By Aeruxo — Licensed flight dispatcher (study guide) | 15+ Years in Airline Operations A few months ago, a friend called me the night before her flight to Tokyo. She had seen a news report about a plane crash somewhere in the world, and she was terrified. “Be honest with me,” she said. “Is flying … Read more