Can a normal person land a aircraft even with step by step instructions from someone who knows?

Question

Aircraft can include Jumbo Jets, 747s, basically any large airplane.

Answer 1

Are you suggesting that pilots are not "normal" people?

Anybody can "land" a plane, but only a trained pilot can land a plane so that it can take off again after!

As a pilot with over 18,000 hours fixed wing flying time, 8,000 hours helicopter time, and a former flight instructor on fixed wings and helicopters, I've never had a student that was able to anticipate the correct amount of engine and control input to even line up for a runway, much less land it, until they had about 5 hours of practice. For helicopters, it will take 10-15 hours.

A large plane will be more difficult than say a Piper Traumahawk or C172 - higher landing speeds, multiple engines, complex flap/slat settings, engine EPR settings, thrust reverse, etc. And that's all assuming you can find the airport in good weather!

Now I admit there have been rare cases of small airplanes landing safely with a "passenger" at the controls after the pilot had a heart attack or something, and being guided by another pilot by radio, but you can bet your last dollar that the "passenger" must have had a little practice beforehand, so they weren't completely new to the sensation of flying. That would absolutley not be possible in a helicopter though.

But if one of the pilots on a 2 pilot airliner (let's say a 767) were to get sick or somehow incapacitated, the other pilot could land perfectly safely without even breaking much of a sweat. That's why the pilots always eat different meals.

Modern jets have autopilot and autoland capabilities, but most pilots spend as much time learning how to use them as they did to learn how to fly. And the pilot(s) still have to be able to fly the plane manually in the event of a system failure.

I fly as a passenger every week on commercial airlines, and I don't worry about the possibility the flight crew will page me to help out in the cockpit!

Answer 2

I doubt it. There have been cases of non pilots landing small GA aircraft after the pilot is incapacitated, but the high landing speeds of large turbine aircraft make it much more difficult. When you add in the complexity of the controls (which are NOT very intuitive) and the stress of landing an aircraft, it doesn't make for a very good scenario.

Think about it...you're getting step by step instructions, but are you going to know what you're looking for if the person giving the instructions tells you to level off an 5000 feet? No, reading an altimeter is not exactly hard, but it's also not something the average person does every day. Add the stress to that, and you're lucky if the person fly even knows what altitude is.

I have about 20 hours in Citations, and doubt I could land a 747 - both jets, but the size and speed is just too different.

Answer 3

This is a bit like asking whether a typical person could perform surgery with step-by-step instructions.

The answer is clearly no, but not really because the basic physical maneuvers are difficult. In the airplane, there's nothing more strenuous than moving levers, pressing buttons, stepping on pedals.

The problem is with the instructions. There's no way for the instructions to address all possible situations. There are too many variables involved. That's why pilots train so much, and why experience is considered so valuable in the pilot hiring process.

This isn't to say that things like these don't happen. There are documented cases of passengers landing light aircraft in the case of pilot incapacitation, sometimes with help via radio from the ground or another aircraft. There have been cases of relatively untrained persons performing rudimentary surgeries. But, these are definitely the exception rather than the rule.

Answer 4

I fly an aircraft even larger than the Boeing 747 (the C-5 Galaxy). I would say that it is EXTREMELY unlikely that anybody, no matter how smart, could land an aircraft such as that without going through a great deal of training and having a lot of experience behind them.

Some approaches and landings can be very challenging even for experienced guys like me. But even the approaches and landings made under the easiest conditions would be impossible if you didn't know exactly what you were doing.

Answer 5

Having flown 737's, 767's DC-10's and 747-400's during my career as an airline pilot, I doubt that your ordinary person would be able to land without incident. They might get the airplane on the ground but the chances of that aircraft flying again would be slim. As many people have mentioned, modern airplanes can land in zero visibility and with one pilot incapacitated, so there's nothing to worry about.

Answer 6

Well maybe in a movie.
The pilot trains and trains to fly aircraft. A normal person would not have enough sensations built up to realize what the aircraft is doing. It takes experience.
Yes computers can fly and land aircraft, but only at an airport where the runway is equipped with proper navigational aids.
But then you would have to stop it.
It does seem that you could land a huge aircraft in the movies but pilots need a lot of practise just like anything else.

Answer 7

ALMOST anyone can be taught to fly and land a plane, but to get it on the ground in one piece without training are zero, 1000 to 1 shot.
It would be like asking if a totally inexperienced climber could free climb a vertical with a instructor standing 3000ft below on a loud speaker giving instructions.

As the performance and complexity advance, so does the training hours.
Just so you understand how much training a ATP ( Air Transport Pilot) pilot has to have just to get into the right (co-pilot) seat, He/she has to have a Commerical pilots certificate, a instrument rating and 1500 hrs. flying time. That's just for openers. From that point on it's nothing but training.
Oh, I forgot, without a collage degree chances of getting a job on the heavys with a major airline are zero, even with all that training.

Your pilots in command on your major airlines are very well trained and have payed there dues to be where they are.

I'm a APT with 33,000 logged flying time. If you were to fly 8 hours a day you'd have to fly 4,125 days to catch up with me, or 11.3 years in the air 8 hours a day.

Answer 8

no this takes a lot of practice you just dont jump into a plane jet etc, or what ever and take it for a joy ride, you need hours of instruction time on, flying a plane and landing etc, its not the asiest thing in the world too just hop into, etc, a flight instructorr is very very highly recomendeed and must be licensed bye the, federal aviatioon administratioon and must, be, licensed and checked every so often threw flight schols, etc, flying is a damn good thing, but its not something you just joy ride with around a landing stripp etc.

Answer 9

psssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh never the person would b worried one i played the microsoft flight simulator and even when i did eveything rite i couldnt land it on the runway bcuz its so big i mean u cant just drive a car without feeling it u cant land a jet without feeling it either wich is pretty hard when u r flying a house

Answer 10

Thats how professional pilots learn, with step by step instructions from their teachers, why would it be any different for anyone else?