
Pilot posts detailed MS Flight Sim video of how to land Boeing 737 - J-dawg
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/18/boeing_737_instructional_video/
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JorgeGT
Wouldn't he be directed to attempt a CAT IIIA (or B) ILS autolanding?

Edit: see sample video of the procedure here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIaMALJjOEc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIaMALJjOEc)

Edit II: see the same guy "remotely" guiding a random person to land using the
autoland:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7WMQUDGDD4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7WMQUDGDD4)

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will_asouka
Autoland would definitely be preferable, a CAT III ILS would be ideal although
you can still autoland off a CAT I beam. CAT IIIs tend to be limited to big
airports due to cost and restrictions on the surrounding terrain and
obstacles.

With autoland though, it's not just a simple button push. The aircraft needs
to be descended around any terrain, navigated through any weather, and put
into the landing configuration. If it'll be landing somewhere other than the
planned destination, there's also a fair amount of reprogramming of the FMS.

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JorgeGT
> there's also a fair amount of reprogramming of the FMS

That was something I was missing. Probably complicated when you are scared to
death. But still a CAT I glideslope descent/touchdown would be preferably to
landing with the PAPI I think. (Funny detail, papi means daddy in Spanish!)

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neppo
same for german, PAPI means daddy

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BuildTheRobots
Tom Scott did an amusing if brief "How to land a plane in an emergency" video
a little while ago that people might enjoy:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3R1ajg8dTY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3R1ajg8dTY)

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anjc
Pretty cool.

What's the likelihood of this every happening to a member of the public these
days? I presume that, in the eventuality of all pilots being out, there's a
hierarchy of people who would then take over? I.e. if there are no pilots on
board, the head of the cabin crew would perform this?

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fao_
Would they even be able to enter the cockpit? IIRC since 9/11 the door to a
cockpit is kept locked under almost[0] all circumstances[1]. I am not sure if
this holds for all airlines though.

[0]: [http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/08/how-
to-h...](http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/08/how-to-hijack-an-
airplane-in-3-seconds/243631/)

[1]: [http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-german-jet-crash-
door-201...](http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-german-jet-crash-
door-20150325-story.html)

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chmars
The cabin crew can unlock the door if the pilots do not intentionally keep the
door looked as the Germanwings suicide pilot did.

~~~
fao_
But that was exactly my point. That:

a) It appears to be standard procedure in the aftermath of 9/11 to keep the
cabin doors locked _at all times_.

b) Many of the cases mentioned where this is useful are cases where the cabin
crew are incapacitated due to, say, hypoxia or some other malady.

Given both of these I fail to see how this skill is as useful as others appear
to be claiming it to be.

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throw7
There's lots of youtube videos of actual landings from the cockpit view even.
I like to watch them and when flying I like listening to the radio chatter
also if available.

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freshyill
I thought modern airliners could pretty much fly themselves, or is takeoff and
landing outside the scope of the automation?

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rangibaby
A pilot licensed to fly smaller aircraft wasn't able to save this plane:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522)

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VLM
Non-pilots think all the pilot training is learning to fly.

Pilots know flying is very easy, all the training is learning how to survive
uncountable emergencies and failures. And economics and judgment and
experience and doing it smoothly and a few other things.

Landing a large jet is very easy in a simulator. A random untrained person
saving a plane that's out of fuel is impossible.

~~~
chmars
It depends, professional pilots often botch landings and swear in the cockpit
although these landings are still safe (enough) …

A landing attempt by a passenger as shown in the YouTube video would probably
end with a crash since some manual flying is involved in the end. It is very
unlikely that a passenger would getting the controls right at the first time
and he (or she) would certainly not be able to perform a go-around.

Autoland would be more helpful. In the worst cased, an aircraft can land
without flaps and without 'three greens' if the runway is long enough with a
high probability of survival for the passengers. Speed control is of course
important but the correct speeds for a zero-flap landing could be given from
the ground via radio.

~~~
JonAtkinson
"They say a good landing is one where no one gets hurt, and a great landing is
one where they can re-use the plane."

Hat-tip: Cabin Pressure, BBC R4

