Would you be able to land an Airliner in an emergency ?

[Guest Dan]

I would certainly try. I mean, what is there to lose? :DDan G

[greggerm 312]

Bigtime LOL!

[greggerm 312]

Hell - if I were a millionaire, I wouldn't *book* a full motion sim, I'd COMMISSION one for my garage. Of course, It'd probably mimick the real bizjet I'd buy. Plus get a real licence. And at that point, I'd *BE* a pilot of my jet, rather than just a passenger. So then the question is a moot point. boom!

[Guest cw1011]

I'll let you know in September after some time in one of the full motion sims at the Denver AVSIM conference....

[Guest rog74]

:-lolNow I'm really scared ! Not scared about the aircraft losing both pilots, but scared of the line of flight sim wannabe's extending from the flight deck, mumbling on about "giving it a try.":-lolCheers,Roger

[Guest rog74]

Edited for spelling.I suppose I should expand on my above post, as it may come off the wrong way.This type of thread comes up every year or so, and there are always those who believe they could in fact land an airliner in an emergency. I could win the lottery today. It could happen, but the likelihood of it happening are miniscule.To be honest, I would venture that ninety nine percent of the people that frequent these forums do not know how to adjust the seat of a B737, let alone operate it in the context of an emergency. In fairness, most of the responses here have indicated a healthy respect for reality. Most realize that the odds of them safely landing any type of airframe in an emergency is as likely as both of the pilots having eaten the fish, or was it the chicken?When speaking to pilots, I have always been told that a good retail flight sim can only help with the ground school aspect of early flight training. Gauge familiarity and the like. After that, it's all reality and no more bad MSFS habits.Cheers,Roger

[Guest jetBlue_83]

I have always contemplated the situation, and have arrived at the conclusion that I would be able to land an aircraft in that situation. There would have to be some givens though:1. The radios work2. I could quickly figure out how to operate them.3. I can read the charts for the destination airport.4. I can adjust the seat :)5. I can talk to people willing to walk me through the landing part:)If all these things are true, then yeah, I could do it. (After having calmed down due to all the excitement:))

[Qavion 19]

"1. The radios work2. I could quickly figure out how to operate them.3. I can read the charts for the destination airport.4. I can adjust the seat :)5. I can talk to people willing to walk me through the landing part:)"...6. The pilots had time to completely disable the new kevlar re-inforced high security cockpit doors ;-)Rgds.Q.

[Guest ba747heavy]

>6. The pilots had time to completely disable the new kevlar>re-inforced high security cockpit doors ;-):-lol!!

[Guest Capitol149]

By the way ... It was the Fish that made everyone sick in that 1950s movie. Could I take over? All I have in real time is 54 hours in a Piper Cherokee 140 (yes I did solo for 15 hours), so realistically the odds would be stacked against me. I've only flown heavy mettle on this home Sim and I've been told that it's not the real deal. Like so many simmers, I'd like to think I could. I would probably die trying and perhaps bring the monster down so some occupants can be taken to the emergency room. Fat chance. It happens in movies and on commuter aircraft, but I know of no cases where it has come to pass on a major commercial flight (737 class and up). I wonder if any of the airlines give instructions to the head Flight attendant on how to program the Autoland; it might be a good idea.Capitol149"Taxi up to and hold short"

[Splash_One 0]

Sorry... had to do this- I was tempted....[big][h1] REPLY 100!!!!!! [/big][/h1]

[LawnDart 19]

I recently took a good friend of mine up for a ride in a C-172. Both of us are avid sim pilots, although I have had my PPL since 1998.He goes with me often, and occassionally I let him fly the airplane, as long as we're straight and level, or only need to do minor turns. He flies quite well, keeps the airplane trimmed, and holds his altitude remarkably well.This particular day, He asked if he could attempt to land. I had my doubts, but decided to let him try. My hands were never farther than an inch away from the controls. We did a few mock landings at 3000 feet, told him about establishing a GOOD sight picture outside the window... and although he had a tough time recognizing when to flare, he seemed fairly stable. He has about 15 years of sim experience.Before the approach, we talked about what to expect, and if anything went wrong or he just wasn't comfortable, I would simply tap him on the shoulder and say "My airplane".All he had to do was the control yoke. I had the throttle and rudders.At about 900' AGL, I established a nice, stable approach, the approach lighting on the 3000' runway said we were spot-on. To demonstrate the concept of a stable approach, I let go of the controls, and the airplane maintained a perfect glidepath. He appreciated that.Now it was time to hand him the yoke. At 800' we lost the centerline and he maneuvered back... and overshot. at 700' we lost the glideslope. Too high. At 600' we were now doing shallow S-turns, hunting for the runway centerline. This continued to about 400', at which time my friend was so nervous, he didn't even know right from left anymore.At 350', I said "My airplane", got it quickly back on the centerline (otherwise we were going to do a landing on a parallel taxiway...) and on glideslope and put her down. It was an eye-opener for him, to say the least, as he always brags about how great his landings are in MSFS.Very early in this thread I stated that a sim pilot -may- be able to get a heavy down safely. I now know that there's no way a true sim pilot could accomplish this task without killing everyone on board, and possibly people on the ground. A sim pilot may know how to fly a sim, but I think when you introduce fear into the equation, it all comes apart, with disastrous results. Ray

[Guest prichards]

Ray your right!Anyone who has never piloted a real plane ( I mean all the way solo ) has no chance! I'm just about done my PPL in a C172. I thought before I started the lessons that I would be able to land no worries! I can land just about anything nicely in flightsim! Boy was I wrong! Being a pilot your self, you know that the hardest part of lurning to fly a real plane is the round out and flare. Round out to late and you hit hard and bounce high, Round out to fast or early and you balloon it! If you balloon to much you just hit full power and go around! It took me about 3 hrs to master the flare so I find it hard when someone with out any real flying skills think they can land a real plane! Throw a crosswind into it and there dead! I've done a few crosswind circuits and can manage 5 or 6kts no problem. Last week I did crosswind circuits with my instructor and the crosswind was right on the max limit! It was 12 gusting to 16kts and full deflection of the rudder still had us sideways on the flare! We had to call it a day because of the strong crosswind! We did 3 circuits and each landing felt more like a controlled crash! If I was on my own I would be dead! A major crosswind to a new pilot is like going back to your first lesson when you don't really no $hit but thought you knew it all!The only chance a none pilot would have is to program an Auto land with instruction! But then your not really flying it are you!

[teropa 4]

Ray,I get your point, but each of us are different. I have no PPL, only sim experience. I have flown with my father a lot during the 16 years he's had PPL. Very early on after he had gotten his PPL, I started to occasionally fly the a/c when we were up. At this time I already was a big FS fan, and did flights with small props constantly in FS. Pretty soon I felt like it was time to do some landings, and lo and behold my 10 first landings with a C172 were really smooth and controlled. I had little trouble doing it. Since those days I still occasionally want to do approaches and landings with him, and I find it really easy now. I've done landings on a severe x-wind and turbulence with pretty good results. Of course an average "joe the simmer" might and would have trouble flying even the smallest aircraft for real, but given at least some handling time on a real aircraft and some talent overall I really don't think that flying the real aircraft is that difficult. Of course in the sim it also often boils down to how realistic the flight models are.WRT piloting heavy iron with only sim experience. I wouldn't know about that, since I have a lot more than sim experience, but I've had several sessions in big full flight simulators and have succeeded flying them with good results. Last time me and a buddy of mine (with only sim experience) flew a sim 757 from A to B to C from cold&dark to a halt at the last destination gate with no problems at all.So, it all depends on the person.Tero

[LawnDart 19]

Well, everyone is different, but I am having trouble understanding how your first ten landings were "...really smooth and controlled." After a decade of Sim experince, my first landing in a real C172 set off the ELT.I only have to assume that you had plenty of experience in 'simulated landings' with your father with a hard deck of probably 2 or 3 thousand in a real 172. Any real pilot will tell you that every landing is different. To acrue that much skillful knowledge without formal training to make 10 'uneventful' landings is a bit of a stretch. I think your father may have been helping along. ;-)