The five buttons airline pilots hope they’ll NEVER push
It's well documented that flying is one of the safest modes of transport.
The industry is highly regulated and every commercial aeroplane is stuffed with safety features, with the pilots having a button to press - or handle to pull - for just about any eventuality. Including those, of course, that are truly dire.
Here a serving long-haul airline captain based in the UK has named five buttons he would hope he never has to use mid-flight...
Pulling the Engine Fire Handle (because you have an engine fire)
Pulling the handle also sets off an extinguishing agent that’s fired into the engine
The engine fire handle mechanically shuts off the flow of fuel to the engines, thereby denying the fire its source.
Pulling the handle also sets off an extinguishing agent that’s fired into the engine.
Sometimes a pilot will delay shutting down an engine that’s on fire – for instance, if thrust is still needed to propel the plane past an obstacle.
It’s often safe to do this because components in and around the engine are designed to be operational for between five and 15 minutes at temperatures of up to 2,000F (1,093C).
Pressing the Ditching push button (because you are ditching the aircraft in water)
Pressing this helps prep the aircraft for a water landing by closing open air inlets, valves and other openings on the underside of the aircraft to slow flooding
The ditching button is another part of the cockpit a pilot will hope never needs to be operated.
Pressing this helps prep the aircraft for a water landing by closing open air inlets, valves and other openings on the underside of the aircraft to slow flooding, according to Quora user Matt Joyce.
He stresses that these measures aren’t designed to prevent the aircraft from sinking – so it’s important to get to an evacuation slide very quickly in the very unlikely event of a water landing.
Setting Transponder Code to 7500 (because you are being hijacked)
All commercial aircraft are required to ‘squawk’ their identity using an electronic device known as a transponder. This piece of equipment can also send various codes – set by the pilots - to air traffic control and other aircraft to tell them about developing unusual situations
All commercial aircraft are required to ‘squawk’ their identity using an electronic device known as a transponder.
This piece of equipment can also send various codes – set by the pilots - to air traffic control and other aircraft to tell them about developing unusual situations.
These distress codes are 7700 for general emergencies, 7600 for loss of radio communication and 7500 for a hijacking or unlawful interference.
Pressing Passenger Oxygen switch (because you have depressurised)
Oxygen masks – or the so-called ‘rubber jungle’ – deploy in the cabin automatically when depressurisation occurs, or they can be deployed on the flight deck
As Patrick Smith writes in his bestselling book Cockpit Confidential, cabin decompression is potentially dangerous.
It can occur as a result of a hole or leak in the fuselage and can lead to a rapid loss of oxygen in the cabin.
Oxygen masks – or the so-called ‘rubber jungle’ – deploy in the cabin automatically when depressurisation occurs, or they can be deployed on the flight deck.
Smith says: ‘Should you ever be confronted by this spectacle, try to avoid shrieking or falling into cardiac arrest. Instead, strap your mask on and try to relax. The plane will be at a safe altitude shortly, and there are several minutes of backup oxygen for everybody.
'Up front, the pilots will don their own masks and commence a rapid descent to an altitude no higher than 10,000 feet. If the descent feels perilously fast, this isn’t because the plane is crashing: it’s because the crew is doing what it’s supposed to do. It might be jarring, but a high-speed emergency descent is not unsafe by itself.’
He adds: ‘Should a pressure loss occur over mountains or other high terrain, pilots will follow predetermined depressurization routes, sometimes called “escape routes,” that allow for a more gradual descent, in stages.’
There are even escape routes for ranges as high as the Andes and Himalayas.
Pulling the Emergency Gear extension handles (because that means the landing gear isn't coming down the normal way)
No pilot wants to land a plane without the wheels down, so having to pull this handle will no doubt not be on any aviator’s wish list.
It works, according to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), by releasing ‘uplocks’ that allow the gear to free-fall to the extended position ‘under the force of gravity’.
Some aircraft use pneumatic power to unlatch the gear, it adds.