Typically pertains to the study of aircraft. Can relate to the theories, design, construction, behavior and use of such craft.
Questions tagged [aviation]
118 questions
16
votes
3 answers
Did the the crew of Flight 1549 (that ditched in the Hudson) do an exceptionally good job?
In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549
successfully ditched in the Hudson River adjacent to midtown Manhattan six minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport after being disabled by striking a flock of Canada Geese during its initial climb out.…
Oddthinking
- 140,378
- 46
- 548
- 638
15
votes
1 answer
If you're born on an airplane, do you get free flights for life?
It's a common myth that if you're born on an airplane, or mid-flight, you get free flights for life from whatever company is running the flight.
Example of a claim - just pertaining to one company, but the article makes it seem common place.
Is this…
ripper234
- 798
- 1
- 7
- 13
15
votes
2 answers
Are recent Southwest Airlines' operational problems caused by employees rejecting a vaccination mandate?
As Southwest Airlines faces a fourth day of canceled flights and other disruptions, claims have emerged -- largely in conservative media and social media circles -- that the company's problems are caused by workers staging a sickout in protest of a…
jeffronicus
- 5,412
- 3
- 28
- 27
15
votes
1 answer
Do airlines increase price on repeat visits?
Where I live in the UK it is a common statement that looking around on comparison websites such as GoCompare or holiday websites such as BritishAirways will result in them using various methods to identify who is checking and raise the price when…
DynamicPeanuts
- 153
- 1
- 7
15
votes
3 answers
Was there a coordinated action on 9/11 to crash an unarmed F-16 into a hijacked plane?
An article came across my attention describing the events on September 11th 2001 for Heather Penney, an F-16 pilot who had just finished training. She tells the story that she and her instructor went into the sky planning to take out a plane by…
Spork
- 2,391
- 21
- 30
14
votes
1 answer
Can airport X-ray machines scramble Kindle screens?
According to the Daily Mail, there have been reports of X-ray machines scrambling Kindle screens, despite Amazon's claims that it is impossible. Can X-ray machines have this effect?
Casebash
- 10,199
- 5
- 55
- 84
14
votes
1 answer
Did Pakistan supply an F-16 fighter jet to China for reverse engineering?
According to Bharat Karnad, in an opinion published in the Hindustan Times in 2017:
PAF long ago passed on an F-16 to China for its aircraft designers to study and to reverse engineer many of its technologies. So this plane is an open book for…
user42178
14
votes
1 answer
Can aircraft be hacked and "commandeered remotely"?
This sensationalist article by John McAfee on Business Insider makes a number of unsupported claims about cybersecurity.
In the article, he claims that (emphasis mine):
For the purpose of our discussion I'm going to ignore the near certainty that…
March Ho
- 18,688
- 12
- 81
- 109
13
votes
1 answer
Air travel risk vs taxi risk
When a person expresses fear about air travel, often somebody will helpfully explain that there is more chance of being killed in a vehicle accident in the taxi on the way to the airport than in an air accident once on board per source here and…
Logic Knight
- 1,419
- 1
- 11
- 16
12
votes
1 answer
Can jet lag give you permanent memory and learning problems?
A recent article on Cracked.com, 5 Things You Won't Believe Are Making You Dumber, claims "jet lag gives you permanent memory and learning problems" and cited several studies. But when you look at the cited study, it shows permanent mental deficits…
InquilineKea
- 1,069
- 2
- 10
- 15
12
votes
3 answers
Is it possible to fly like a bird using semi-motorized wings?
On his website http://www.humanbirdwings.net/ the dutch engineer Jarno Smeets claims to have successfully build a set of 17 m2 bird-like wings from material of a kite. It is claimed that it uses sensors taken from Wii controllers and a smart phone…
Martin Scharrer
- 3,857
- 3
- 32
- 37
12
votes
1 answer
Are fume events a frequent health hazard to airplane passengers?
Are friend told me about oil fumes contamination he experienced during a flight. This seems to be no isolated case. This list shows several incidents of similar type over years.
“Upon initial descent there suddenly was a very strong oil smell…
Hauser
- 1,933
- 1
- 17
- 25
12
votes
0 answers
Is a Boeing Honeywell ‘Uninterruptible’ Autopilot System pre-installed on any in-service airliners?
Some sites make the claim that Boeing has installed an uninteruptible ground-controlled autopilot in aircraft such as the 777 with registration 9M-MRO used for missing flight MH370.
Notable claims (that this system is already installed and could…
RedGrittyBrick
- 24,895
- 3
- 100
- 111
12
votes
1 answer
Was MH17's flight path rerouted?
I was reading this article which is an open letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron from former Russian President, Sergey Stepashin, and Russian Politician President, Sergey Glazyev regarding the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crash.
Most of it is…
skepticthrowaway
- 121
- 3
12
votes
1 answer
Did Frane Selak survive a fall from a plane?
Frane Selak has been dubbed the "world's luckiest man" for his frequent, apparent escapes from death.
One, in particular, strikes me as straight-up absurd: the one about him falling out of a plane onto a haystack and surviving.
Wikipedia tells the…
Dois
- 623
- 1
- 5
- 9