Travel: An Interview With a French Pilot!

As someone who is very afraid (terrified) of flying and with a trip to Denver coming up, I decided to contact one of my friend’s dads, who happens to be a pilot here in France. I had previously read up on exactly how an aircraft works and turbulence too, but I figured it would put my worries to rest hearing it firsthand. He kindly agreed to answer some questions via email, so I prepared my list and sent them. My questions were mostly around aircraft safety, since news stations make a big deal out of crashes and also turbulence, which can sometimes make it feel like the plane is out of control. His answers were very thoughtful, insightful and most of all, reassuring! Finally, I did ask some questions about how COVID has affected him as a pilot and what airlines are doing to keep passengers safe from the disease, as well as what effect COVID has on safety. Enjoy!

General Aircraft Safety:

Note: I have put my questions in black and his responses in blue. Anything in parentheses has been corrected (typos, etc).

1. As a pilot, how much training did you have to take before flying commercial aircrafts with passengers?

My training took 2 ½ years before I first sat at the right seat of a Boeing 737 with passengers. But still with an instructor captain pilot for 3 months, before flying when (with) random crews.

2. In general, how many pilots are on a plane for an international flight? How many for a regional flight?

It is more a question of range and flight time here and the airline industry usually talks of Long Haul (more than 5 hours) and Medium Haul (between 1 and 5 hours) and Short Haul (less than 1 hour). Short and Medium Haul flights have 2 pilots : a Captain (((In))French say “Commandant de Bord”) and a First Officer (“Officier Pilote”)

• Long Haul have 2 pilots for flights under 9 hours.

• And longer flights require up to 4 pilots, like Paris – Santiago de Chile which is a 15-hour long flight.

3. What are the safety protocols before takeoff?

Really wide question, because so many aspects are considered, like:

• Task sharing / teamwork is a lot (100% defined and standardized) : the PF “Pilot Flying” has the controls, while the PM “Pilot Monitoring” checks what is done -and going on- with a different perspective.

• Aircraft performance aspect is a real thing as well. To make it short (though I know I can’t…): the mass of the plane and its balance are determined, considering failure of one engine at the worse (worst) moment. This is approximately halfway of (off) the takeoff roll: really fast (~250 km/h)* when stopping would lead all the way down (to) the end of the runway. And just fast enough so that the remaining engine(s) will allow to reach flying speeds and a proper climbing speed.

I anticipate you might wonder what kind of mass we are talking about . For a Boeing 777 from Paris to Mexico City, typical figures are:

• Fuel 90 Tons

• Passengers 40 Tons

• Freight 20 Tons

• Plane itself 150 Tons

You will certainly add all this and see how much that is. (300 Tons) And just because this amount is insane, I have to tell you each engine provides about 56 Tons of thrust (112 Tons total) at takeoff (around 220,000 horsepower).

4. Who checks the plane before takeoff and what do they check/look at?

Mechanics check the plane with a maintenance eye. They do maintenance tasks and check for parts, oil level and refill, computers reports, reset systems etc… Pilots check the plane with a different perspective, during a “walk around”. We look for oil or fuel leaks, hydraulic fluid traces from flight controls, icing on the wings, etc… and also have security aspects in mind. Safety is a constant thought as well : what is going on around the plane? Refueling, baggage & freight loading, trucks and trolleys, and all doors must be kept clear for slides to be deployed in case an evacuation is needed.

5. What is the most difficult part of a flight: takeoff, flying, or landing? Why?

Difficult is certainly not the word. This job must be kept simple, though we encounter challenging situations. An interesting aspect is the timeline. Before reading what’s next, take a moment to think what is “short, medium and long term” for you or the people you know, in their job. For a pilot:

• Long term is a bunch of hours. Never more than 16…

• Medium term would be between ½ hour and a couple hours (but guess what… we cruise at 8 nautical miles per minute).

• Short term could be a short a (as short as a) couple seconds.

Another interesting point is decision making. We have to make decisions with a lot of info and a lot of -missing- info. We call this a “blurred environment” and this (is) a big part of becoming a pilot, and an even bigger part of flying as a crew, with the captain eventually taking responsibility for every decision made with the crew.

6. How often do you experience turbulence and how do pilots handle it?

Always! Just like the sea usually shows waves, the air mass moves. Before flight, we use meteo charts with turbulence forecast, observed turbulence, and “PIREPs” (for Pilots REPorts). They allow us to confirm or change the routing and cruise altitude. Which is more for passengers comfort than safety. In flight, we would adapt (reduce) speed, again for comfort. We would also change altitude -if possible- and send PIREPS to let our company and all other airplanes know what kind and what level of turbulence we are encountering. Since a few years we also have (It's been a few years since we have had) live info on our tablets.

7. What is/are the main cause(s) of turbulence?

Main causes are: - convection ; like bubbles when water is boiling. - wind shift (direction or speed changes) - air mass discontinuity / tropopause altitude change : causing the “jet streams” - jet streams: high velocity winds from 60 and up (220 knots being the maximum wind I personally experienced : Boston-Paris in 4h30 ).

8. How would a pilot know when turbulence becomes unsafe and can it become unsafe? How and why?

There is probably only one kind which must be avoided at all times: convective turbulence inside a thunderstorm, where they are combined with hailstones the size of a baseball (and about 2 pounds). This is why we have radars in airliners: to see “CBs” (CumulonimBus clouds) and avoid them, always. Other kinds of turbulence, at some extreme, might be very uncomfortable for all onboard -and scary to the passengers- but they are only dangerous for people inside the plane, not for the plane itself. Those turbulence are categorized as “severe” and described as when it is impossible to walk in the aisle and objects/passengers may fall or be projected to the roof or to the floor. They are very rare and usually forecast, but not always. When this happen, you would see the flight attendants seated and attached. If this was unexpected, they would use the closest seat available, or even get seated on (a) passenger’s lap ! This is why, from a pilot’s or a company('s) point of view, passengers must be seated as soon as we feel “a bumpy ride”, just in case it suddenly gets more serious. Also, passengers should use their safety belt as they are seated. The plane itself is not in danger in severe turbulence (expect ((except)) CBs), for (a) very mechanical reason: when a gust hits the wing, it can only produce a certain amount of “lift” for which the structure of the plane is calculated to hold (with ((within)) margins). When the air is “asking too much” of the wing, the air flow is not able to produce more lift, and the wing “stalls”. If higher lift is not produced, there are no higher loads/constraints applied to the wing and fuselage; the airplane cannot be damaged. This is very comparable to a car which would skid when you try to turn too steep.

9. In the event of a crash or water landing, what is the protocol for pilots and can it be avoided? When they can be anticipated, a few actions will be made to prepare the plane, the cabin crew and the passengers to a “forced landing” or “ditching”. Airplane will be made lighter by dumping fuel, the cabin stronger by depressurizing it, and flying slow with extending the flaps (low weight also helps) to minimize the speed and energy to be dissipated. For ditching, the plane will also be somehow sealed, by closing the air cabin (and the) exhaust door will also be kept closed as long as possible. Passengers will have to remember what they have been showed during the safety briefing. And Cabin crew will do what they are really paid for: ensure passengers safety. Such voluntary “returns to the ground” are extremely unlikely and will only be made if there is no option left to make the plane fly further, to a runway. And we have a lot of resources to make it to a runway, even if plenty of failures happened. There are many -many!- situations which have been anticipated by aircraft design, aircraft situations, aircraft performance (understand performance with multiple failures) and for which we are trained. And trained again several times each year. I have to add a personal comment here. For the commercial airlines industry, worldwide, today’s stats are 1 accident per 10 billion flying hours. This being said, one often read when a plane crashed that the pilot made an error. I would like to emphasize here all those moments which never become serious, nor even a “situation” because pilots dealt with them or simply made a decision before, not being a top gun pilot, but simply doing their humble everyday job. And this is why we still have pilots in those planes, though it will inevitably change someday. But this progress will certainly not make aircraft crashes “old stories”…

10. At what point would a pilot have to make an announcement concerning the safety of passengers during a dangerous part of the journey?

-Turbulence is the most common, when we actually have to warn the cabin crew and have the passengers checked for seat belts. -Other times would be to inform a go around was made, when landing was not the best option. Pilots even brief that we would “land if we don’t have to go-around”. Even though we land most of the time, there is an interesting nuance in this saying and mindset. -Rarer occasions would be to inform passengers of a diversion when we cannot land at destination (meteo, airport closed,…), or have to return to our departure airport (this remains an option till… about halfway to ((the)) destination ).

11. Have you ever experienced a scary time on an aircraft that had you worried and if so, what happened and how did you or the pilots fix it?

I have encountered challenging and interesting situations, when my brain was well solicited. Teamwork was a big part of making a proper decision. But “worried” does not apply here. “Took care of” – “faced it” – “managed”, would be proper.

12. I've heard before that the "crash position" airlines advise passengers to assume in the event of a crash is actually quite a futile attempt at safety. Is this true? Why or why not?

I assume it would help in the case of high decelerations, and rough impacts, but not actual brutal crashes for which there is no doubt.

Traveling During Coronavirus:

1. Have you flown an aircraft either internationally or regionally during the period of Covid-19?

Yes I have, internationally, since we have be “deconfined”.

2. If so, what are some of the main and significant changes you've experienced?

Empty planes / airports and quick pass through immigration… Flying less, makes flying even more enjoyable Flying cargo (transporting freight only) 3 flight(s) out of 4.

3. If so, where have you flown to so far?

French territories, the USA, Japan, Mexico, Rio de Janeiro.

4. If so, what has been your general experience with the number of passengers: are there more or less than before?

Much less. About 25-50 % seats occupied.

5. If less, does this in any way affect a flight? Would passengers be in more or less danger in the event of a malfunction (for lack of better words)?

Yes, one pending effect : passengers are now enjoying more space… They might get used to it! 6. If I assume that planes are being cleaned more than usual due to Covid, would any of these cleaning products have an effect on the plane? Are the products checked by someone?

Yes, cleaning has become a big deal. They even changed it into “sanitizing”. The products we use are also certified for plane use and tested. So they should not harm people or degrade materials / equipment.

Again, a big thanks to this pilot for taking time out of his day to answer my questions and allowing me to publish his answers here on my blog. His answers really reassured me and helped me understand how exactly a plane works and is prepared to be used for travel commercially. Hopefully they have reassured you and perhaps provided some interesting information about flying! Here were some of my biggest takeaways from our interview:

-Pilots do check the plane and do a "walk around" before takeoff.

-Extreme turbulence (unless CB) is not dangerous at all to passengers!

-Pilots record turbulence and have special radars for dangerous clouds/turbulence.

-It is possible for a plane to be able to make it to a runway, even with lots of failures.

-Planes are tested and practiced with failures.

-The sanitizing products are all specially certified for use on aircrafts.

Anyway, I learned a lot and I hope you all did too! One more thank you to the pilot and hopefully the next time you fly, you can feel a lot more relaxed.

*For those of you that would like the conversion: 250 km/hr = 155.343 mph :)

Loreleixx