Do planes lose altitude?

Originally Answered: How does a airplane drop altitude for it to land. Does it fly at low speed and automatically drops altitude or the pilotd puts the nose down? You reduce power. On an airline flight you hear the drop in the engine note as you start your descent from cruising altitude; same on any other aircraft.



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An aircraft losses altitude when the lift is reduced. Lift can be reduced intentionally, by mechanical failure or by weather extreme. Intentional reduction is what pilots do to land. They reduced power and or pitch the aircraft in a nose down attitude.

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Airliners can descend over 8,000 feet per minutes if needed. A descent from 35,000 feet at that rate would have you down to 11,000 feet in 3 minutes or less. John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.

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The middle layer usually has a tiny hole in it to get rid of condensation. The inner pane basically safeguards the load from the passengers during flight. When both the outer and middle panes break, then all the pressurization in the airplane would escape leading to decompression in the passenger cabin.

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They don't really fall, but can certainly descend and climb very rapidly, and without warning. In severe or extreme turbulence, altitude losses and gains of 1000 feet can happen, but are usually much less.

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On July 17, 1962, American test pilot Robert White took the X-15 to an altitude of 314,688 feet. But it's Russian pilot Alexandr Fedotov who holds the world altitude record, set on August 31, 1977, when his MiG E-266M reached a mere 123,523 feet. What gives?

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If the plane doesn't crash, the descent rate generally can't hurt you. If the plane crashes, the horizontal deceleration is likely to do far more harm than the vertical deceleration. That said, 18,000 feet per minute is pretty fast, like 180 knots, so unpressurized it could cause possibly ear & sinus damage.

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Turbulence is a sudden and sometimes violent shift in airflow. Those irregular motions in the atmosphere create air currents that can cause passengers on an airplane to experience annoying bumps during a flight, or it can be severe enough to throw an airplane out of control. (The pilots) aren't scared at all.

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Severe turbulence can cause a plane to drop so suddenly that pilots temporarily lose control. But, again, that's not enough to crash the plane. That's not to say it's never happened. In 1966, human error and turbulence combined to bring a plane down over Mount Fuji.

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While pilots can't actually see turbulence, they often know what is coming up, thanks to reports from other planes, weather reports, and radar equipment. However, clear air turbulence (severe turbulence occurring in cloudless areas) can sometimes catch pilots off guard.

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At times like this, pilots will slow to a designated “turbulence penetration speed” to ensure high-speed buffet protection (don't ask) and prevent damage to the airframe. We can also request higher or lower altitudes, or ask for a revised routing.

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The MLW is set in order to ensure safe landings; if an aircraft weighs too heavy during touchdown, it may suffer structural damage or even break apart upon landing.

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And that at cabin altitudes above 14,000 feet pilots must use oxygen at all times. And that above 15,000 feet each occupant of the aircraft must be provided supplemental oxygen. All of this is spelled out in Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91.211.

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The highest certified altitude of an airliner was Concorde's 60,000 feet. Today some of the corporate jets can fly at 51,000 feet. Q: What is the highest cruising altitude allowed? A: Most airliners are limited to 45,000 feet or less.

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Pilots know that flying safely in threatening turbulence requires slowing to VA, the maneuvering speed. This assures that the airplane will stall before its limit load factor can be exceeded. Such a stall is momentary and protects the structure against damaging loads.

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Pilots are capable of identifying areas of potential turbulence by using their knowledge of meteorology and weather patterns. One of the simplest ways we avoid turbulence is by avoiding areas with thunderstorms. Convective activity is associated with unstable air, as well as strong updrafts and downdrafts.

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The bigger the plane, the better! Any plane can experience turbulence, but larger planes weigh more and don't feel the impact of wind changes as much as a smaller plane. Specifically, the Airbus A380 handles turbulence very well! The A380 is a large plane mainly used for international flights.

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There are multiple reasons a plane can break up in mid-air, according to Landsberg, including over stress, turbulence, aircraft fatigue and corrosion.

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Yes. On most passenger aircraft models, some cockpit windows can be opened. On the Airbus A320, for example, there are two windows that can be opened, one on the captain's side and one on the co-pilot's.

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Families of victims and survivors may bring a lawsuit against the airline or aircraft. In some cases, it may be appropriate to sue a parts manufacturer. The federal government provides support to the families of those injured in airplane crashes.

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