My Mrs asked me a while back and some friends "If we were on a plane and God forbid something hyperthetically happened to the captain and f/o would you be able to fly the plane?"Now i say yes with guidance from ATC of coarse, as i like to think with the knowledge i have picked up from simming i could fly and land an airliner!I get asked this frequently from friends and family...Do you guys and what do you answer?BTW, i know its easy to say yes but if in that position with your knowledge......could you?

Edited February 22, 201214 yr by christos

Ive been asked this by my family, and I respond "If I didnt have to land then maybe.

I say when I am asked, Yes if I had to but it wouldn't be the smoothest landing you will ever have (-500ft/pm)!Aaron G.

Yes, I get this asked allot. My reply is "I am pretty sure I could" based on my knowledge on Aircraft, ATC etc etc... It would be pretty awsome though!!

Edited February 22, 201214 yr by Shamrock727

You people are funny. It's not as simple as " I can do it on my PC so I am sure I could in real life. " Stop kidding yourselves!When placed in the situation for real anyone would be so overwhelmed with anxiety and fear that you will mess up end up dead! Flying a PC at home is not flying the real thing.

Edited February 22, 201214 yr by petkez

My answer is: I would like to think that I can but I hope never to be in that situation.

Without any real world flying experience, I would have to say no. However, there are flaws with the proposition anyway. The pilot and copilot for some reason are incapacitated yet the plane is still in good working order. Ok, my odds are improving. However in a situation in the real world where the pilot and copilot were incapacitated would be Helios 522. The equipment of this bird was in perfect working order. A small switch configured wrong made all the difference. If a person could find a way to get the oxygen on, it may have been possible to attempt a landing.The bottom line, however, is that if your choice is attempt to land the plane which may end in catastrophe or the plane crashes anyway. Better to give it the old college try isn't it?

I believe I could if talked through it by ATC and I could do an autoland. I can't imagine a non RW pilot doing a manually landing right the first time but what do I know

My feeling: no. You just don't get the FEEL of the aircraft when you're behind the controls of a computer. I don't think, if you're just a simpilot, you have any right being in the flight deck of a commercial airliner. I'd be happier with a deadheading pilot (or even a F/A) being up there. Just my two cents.

Autoland - fairly certain I could do it. Handflying would probably be quite difficult, but the thing is I'd know how to go around if I thought it wasn't going to work as I got closer to the ground - assuming there was enough fuel, I think it's plausible I could "practice" in a sense that way and possibly get it eventually after a few tries. It wouldn't be easy though, I know that.One huge leg up I think I'd have though is that whoever was talking me through this on the ground could use aviation terminology with me, tell me to do things in the cockpit and I'd know exactly where everything was, how it works and what it's all called etc. I could talk to ATC in the proper lingo without difficulty as well.I actually want to try this some time in the real sim - have a friend who can get me into one, I just have to find the time to travel for it. I'll have it set so I take over at cruise with the supposedly incapacitated pilots and I have to get it down with a manual landing.

I done a Cessna flight all myself without any experience apart from some PC stuff (FS5.1 I think). I shouldnt have told lied and said I had 5 hrs already but I wasn't going to pay $40 and watch the instructor fly. Done my first glider flight as well, start to finish, landing in a windy day in Scotland, never realised how much cross co-ordination you need to do!! 737, why not! Pilots are some sort of superhumans with out of this world skills that you only gain through "official trainin".Put it like this, would you be able to fly a 1000hp Spitfire by only having flown a Tiger moth before???? You get the joke right?

Even the Mythbusters were able to do it. Both claim to have zero experience, the first time without ground assistance did not end up well for either of them, When assisted by ground with a qualified ATC/pilot, they both landed safely flying manual. This was using a NASA Level-D full motion simulator. If they could do it, I'm sure a simmer with knowledge of the aircraft's systems obtained by models like the NGX, could do it. if conditions were favorable (No aircraft system failures, good weather), especially autoland. The only variable would be fear. Each person handles fear differently, some would freeze up, but others would still perform well.

Edited February 23, 201214 yr by tf51d

I done a Cessna flight all myself without any experience apart from some PC stuff (FS5.1 I think). I shouldnt have told lied and said I had 5 hrs already but I wasn't going to pay $40 and watch the instructor fly. Done my first glider flight as well, start to finish, landing in a windy day in Scotland, never realised how much cross co-ordination you need to do!! 737, why not! Pilots are some sort of superhumans with out of this world skills that you only gain through "official trainin".Put it like this, would you be able to fly a 1000hp Spitfire by only having flown a Tiger moth before???? You get the joke right?

Actually I'm not a pilot, and I flew a TF-51D Mustang (With a CFI Lee Lauderback) which had a 1490HP Merlin through aerobatics and landing! See my featured video on my youtube page below!

Nobody can tell, however it's more than probable that we'd have significantly more chances to do it better than somebody who has never seen a cockpit (real or virtual) before.

We have one big advantage over RW captains - there are usually two of them in the office - PF and PNF which assist as much as possible. Talking to ATC, dialing radios and handling the plane (column wheel + throttle) is not a job for one, and we mostly can deal with that. I know only two situations: Speedbird 5390 and recently Warsaw-Prague CSA flight, when co-pilot has to do all of this alone. We do it all the time and do not crash at all (at least me).On the other side - they fly on day to day basis, usually having livestock in the back. For me personally being responsible for live/death of 150+ lives could be little overwhelming, plus, I will have to study the approach plates in a matter of minutes.There is no one definitive answer - Yes I could fly and land / No I would crash eventually. Too many factors are involved: how many hours You spend (and how long ago) in a type, good ATC controller who understand the importance of situation, amount of extra fuel in case of few GA's or time to study the approach, weather conditions, if pax are calm or yelling. Many of other things come to my head, but You have the point I guess