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What happens when a plane goes off the radar?

As soon as it drops off the radar, the first thing the air traffic controller will do is contact the next radar facility on the plane's flight path, and then others in the area, to see if they can detect it.



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Text: Air traffic controllers have multiple radar systems in place to track flights over land and sea, so when a plane disappears from radar, it's usually a sign that it's lost power, switched off its transmitters or dropped below cruising altitude.

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Yes & no. An aircraft will always be detectable by radar of some type & at some range. There is also the possibility that certain radars cannot detect the presence of certain aircraft types, in certain orientations, at certain distances & the aircraft will fly by undetected.

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The device could have an electrical short or catch on fire. Pilots would want to shut it down rather than risk a fire spreading to the rest of the cockpit or airplane.

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Planes have headlights so that pilots can see what is in front of them. Unfortunately, they are only effective during takeoffs and landings. Even with the slight illumination offered by the headlights, only darkness is visible when looking out the front window of a cockpit.

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At night pilots will turn their gaze from outside to inside and use the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon is normally a simply globe split into two hemispheres. Using this instrument, the pilot can determine whether the aircraft is in a climb, a dive, or rolling.

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I often see military flights in the sky, which do not appear on FlightRadar24. I do understand that low-flying military airplanes do no necessarily get picked up by these trackers, and that some military aircrafts switch of transponders. However some flight do appear on this ADSB-Tracking website.

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Yes, weather radar can help predict convective turbulence and clear air turbulence. Most commercial aircraft now pack weather radar – from the Airbus A321 to the Boeing 777.

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LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT CANNOT BE DETECTED BY STANDARD RADAR BECAUSE OF INTERFERENCE FROM CLUTTER. LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT CANNOT BE DETECTED BY STANDARD RADAR BECAUSE OF INTERFERENCE FROM CLUTTER.

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Airline pilots take turns using the bathroom nearest the cockpit during a flight. There are no bathrooms installed in the cockpit. For airplanes with a single pilot, diapers, catheters, or collection devices are used if they are unable to land to use the airport bathroom.

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Pilots don't earn a flat annual salary like some professions. Instead, they're paid an hourly wage for each flight hour flown, along with per diem. Most airlines guarantee a minimum number of hours per month, so that pilots can count on at least a minimum amount of monthly income.

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The simple answer is yes, pilots do, and are allowed to sleep during flight but there are strict rules controlling this practice. Pilots would only normally sleep on long haul flights, although sleep on short haul flights is permitted to avoid the effects of fatigue.

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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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Instrument approach procedures specify minimum flight visibility to land and minimum decent altitudes. If the clouds are too low or the visibility is very poor, a pilot still can't land. Flight visibility is just one factor, however. Rain can make it difficult to see out the windscreen.

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1200: Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight, this is the standard code used in North American airspace when no other has been assigned (*)

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