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I have a friend who is a small-plane pilot -- think Cessenas, things like that. I asked her, "Would you be able to land a 747 if the pilot died and the copilot

I have a friend who is a small-plane pilot -- think Cessenas, things like that. I asked her, "Would you be able to land a 747 if the pilot died and the copilot was incapacitated or something crazy happened?" She said, "I think so. Get on the radio and ask tower where the autopilot switch is. They can land themselves." Of course this was not in the spirit of the question but I thought it was an entertaining answer.

raquo 14y ago
Assuming you somehow learned that they actually died... and you didn't die for the same reason... and you could open the cabin door...
- ShawnBird 14y ago
  And that whatever killed them did not damage the radio and/or auto pilot.
hcarvalhoalves 14y ago
ILS is amazing, it can really land by itself depending on the condition.
- iliis 14y ago
  Indeed. It also has an interesting and hilarous history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams "The Battle of the Beams was a period early in the Second World War when bombers of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) used a number of increasingly accurate systems of radio navigation, developed by Johannes Plendl, for night bombing in England. British "scientific intelligence" at the Air Ministry fought back with a variety of their own increasingly effective means, involving jamming and distortion of the radio waves." "Thus the beam was "bent" away from the target. Eventually, the beams could be bent by a controlled amount which enabled the British to fool the Germans into dropping their bombs where they wanted them. A side effect was that as the German crews had been trained to navigate solely by the beams, many crews failed to find either the true equi-signal or Germany again. Some bombers even landed at RAF bases, believing they were back in Germany."
- icarus_drowning 14y ago
  Honestly, this is what I expected the article to be: "Step 1: Turn on ILS. Step 2: Have a beverage and flip the fasten seatbelts sign on-- here's where it is on the instrument panel."
chmars 14y ago
What made your friend think that air traffic controllers would be able to give instructions on how to land an aircraft? (As a rule of thumb, they don't. And even most pilots couldn't help, only pilots who know the aircraft in question and if auto land is an option at all.)
- vacri 14y ago
  You can keep a plane flying straight and level while they go and find out. They know that there's a plane in distress and can route traffic around it, and get someone on the horn.
- defrost 14y ago
  It's still the right thing to do to contact them and ask for advice, they have emergency services to arrange, traffic to clear, and many have flight experience of some kind or another. More to the point they are at the twitching heart of the airport and can get on the phone or handball the task of patching through to a pilot that does have the relevant experience. Even small airports have a surprising breadth and depth of experience hanging about the associated flight schools and maintenance sheds, the chances of finding a semi retired 747 (say) pilot lurking about with the older mechanics working on a light aircraft or custom built car are surprisingly high.
- jamesaguilar 14y ago
  Specified "747" in the original question, and in my comment. I'm sure ATC could come up with someone who knew how to fly one.
- drakeandrews 14y ago
  They will however be able to call Boeing/Airbus/whatever and get them to talk you through it.
- mvgoogler 14y ago
  Sure, it would be unusual for a random individual controller to be able to give instruction on landing a 747. But I can guarantee you that they would arrange for someone who did to help you. For immediate help, there would likely be another pilot in the sector that that controller could ask to help keep you in the air. While that is happening, other controllers or supervisors would be calling the airline to get a type-certified pilot/instructor on the radio to talk you through the landing. I don't know of any cases where it has actually happened on a commercial, but there have definitely been cases in light aircraft where the pilot became incapacitated and ATC talked the non-pilot through a safe landing.
jrockway 14y ago
I haven't read the manual for the 747, but I'm fairly certain that autoland is not done by flipping a single switch.
- jamesaguilar 14y ago
  I'm sorry that she didn't say, "Ask for the process for configuring and engaging the autopilot," when she told the story. She probably thought, "Flip the switch" was sufficiently descriptive that I connect the dots myself. I guess she didn't expect to have the story picked apart by people looking for something to argue with.

raquo 14y ago

Assuming you somehow learned that they actually died... and you didn't die for the same reason... and you could open the cabin door...

ShawnBird 14y ago
And that whatever killed them did not damage the radio and/or auto pilot.

hcarvalhoalves 14y ago

ILS is amazing, it can really land by itself depending on the condition.

iliis 14y ago
Indeed. It also has an interesting and hilarous history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beams "The Battle of the Beams was a period early in the Second World War when bombers of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) used a number of increasingly accurate systems of radio navigation, developed by Johannes Plendl, for night bombing in England. British "scientific intelligence" at the Air Ministry fought back with a variety of their own increasingly effective means, involving jamming and distortion of the radio waves." "Thus the beam was "bent" away from the target. Eventually, the beams could be bent by a controlled amount which enabled the British to fool the Germans into dropping their bombs where they wanted them. A side effect was that as the German crews had been trained to navigate solely by the beams, many crews failed to find either the true equi-signal or Germany again. Some bombers even landed at RAF bases, believing they were back in Germany."
icarus_drowning 14y ago
Honestly, this is what I expected the article to be: "Step 1: Turn on ILS. Step 2: Have a beverage and flip the fasten seatbelts sign on-- here's where it is on the instrument panel."

chmars 14y ago

What made your friend think that air traffic controllers would be able to give instructions on how to land an aircraft? (As a rule of thumb, they don't. And even most pilots couldn't help, only pilots who know the aircraft in question and if auto land is an option at all.)

vacri 14y ago
You can keep a plane flying straight and level while they go and find out. They know that there's a plane in distress and can route traffic around it, and get someone on the horn.
defrost 14y ago
It's still the right thing to do to contact them and ask for advice, they have emergency services to arrange, traffic to clear, and many have flight experience of some kind or another. More to the point they are at the twitching heart of the airport and can get on the phone or handball the task of patching through to a pilot that does have the relevant experience. Even small airports have a surprising breadth and depth of experience hanging about the associated flight schools and maintenance sheds, the chances of finding a semi retired 747 (say) pilot lurking about with the older mechanics working on a light aircraft or custom built car are surprisingly high.
jamesaguilar 14y ago
Specified "747" in the original question, and in my comment. I'm sure ATC could come up with someone who knew how to fly one.
drakeandrews 14y ago
They will however be able to call Boeing/Airbus/whatever and get them to talk you through it.
mvgoogler 14y ago
Sure, it would be unusual for a random individual controller to be able to give instruction on landing a 747. But I can guarantee you that they would arrange for someone who did to help you. For immediate help, there would likely be another pilot in the sector that that controller could ask to help keep you in the air. While that is happening, other controllers or supervisors would be calling the airline to get a type-certified pilot/instructor on the radio to talk you through the landing. I don't know of any cases where it has actually happened on a commercial, but there have definitely been cases in light aircraft where the pilot became incapacitated and ATC talked the non-pilot through a safe landing.

jrockway 14y ago

I haven't read the manual for the 747, but I'm fairly certain that autoland is not done by flipping a single switch.

jamesaguilar 14y ago
I'm sorry that she didn't say, "Ask for the process for configuring and engaging the autopilot," when she told the story. She probably thought, "Flip the switch" was sufficiently descriptive that I connect the dots myself. I guess she didn't expect to have the story picked apart by people looking for something to argue with.