The actual landing, comprising under a minute of flight, is responsible for 22% of all fatal accidents.  (This is included in the 36% already mentioned.)

Pilots joke that a good pilot is one that has the same number of landings as take-offs.  By that standard airline pilots are very good indeed.   In 2000 Boeing pointed out the practical implications of the high levels of safety that are now the norm: “The risk of being involved in a commercial jet aircraft accident where there are multiple fatalities is approximately 1 in 3 million.  To put this in perspective you’d have to fly once every day for more than 8200 years to accumulate 3 million flights.”

These figures show that even though landing is the most dangerous phase of the flight, the systems and safety measures in place mean that the actual level of risk is low.

What you can do

The single largest thing you can do to improve your personal safety during landing is to understand the details of how to assume the brace position correctly as this is not, in our view, adequately explained in the pre-flight safety briefings and the safety chart in the pocket in front of you.  This is covered in our article:  Brace yourself properly – save your life!

You will also find it helpful and reassuring to read these articles:

First Time Flyer – What to expect during take-off

Anxious when flying? Ways to help calm down

Anxiety and panic at 30,000 feet 

The landing experience

The landing phase is similar to take-off in that the wings have their shape changed to ensure maximum lift at a low speed (to reduce the landing to a safe speed).  This is accompanied by a lot of noises as things lock into place, and generally a good deal of noise from the hydraulic system.  From the cruising altitude the aircraft will gradually descend.  As it gets down to a pre-determined height it will gradually slow down from the high speed of cruising to the relatively low speed required for the landing.

The jet engine sound will change too as the power is varied to control the aircraft as it slows down.  It is often not understood that when flying at its very slowest safe speed the aircraft will use thrust vectoring, which requires maximum engine power.  The result of this will be that the engine tone can be at odds with the perceived speed of the aircraft.

Approach angle

Apart from a few airports like the inner-city London City airport (where the angle is steeper) the  landing approach angle is 3 degrees.  In addition to the instruments and navigation system, the lights at the side of the runway change colour depending on the angle that they are viewed from, so the pilot receives visual confirmation that the angle of approach is correct.  The pilot flies the plane down at a controlled angle and then substantially tapers off the descent and pulls the nose of the aircraft up just before contact is made with the ground.  (This is called the “flare”.  It also positions the aircraft so that the main landing wheels absorb the shock of landing, and not, for instance, the nose wheel.)

Depending on the skill of the pilot, and the weather conditions, this contact with the ground may be almost imperceptible, or it may on occasion be quite a heavy thump.

Cross-winds

The aircraft must land facing into the wind but the wind frequently does not co-operate by blowing exactly down the runway.  This results in the aircraft flying at an angle to the wind.  The problem is that the landing wheels do not steer on commercial aircraft, so the plane must straighten up once it has landed, so that it goes along the runway and not off into the field.  Boeing recognise three techniques for doing this: fly at an angle to the runway, then straighten the plane with respect to the runway just before touch-down; on a wet runway, land the aeroplane still at an angle and then straighten up to face along the runway after touchdown; or lastly, straighten the flight path with respect to the runway by banking the aircraft gently until touchdown, then immediately level the wings.

There is quite a lot going on in the cabin during crosswind conditions and the priority is to put the plane down, keep the wings level, and align the aircraft along the runway.  A gentle touch-down is not always on the to-do list!

Braking

At this point the aircraft is on the ground and the trim is reconfigured to keep it there.  So far so good.  But it is still going very fast for a ground vehicle: 200 to 300 km/h (125 to 190 mph).  The priority becomes “slow down and stop”.  Air brakes help a bit, which are big flaps that stick out into the airstream.

The brakes are capable of stopping the aircraft on their own, but to reduce the stress on the aircraft, reverse thrust is also used.  Reverse-thrust is noisy.

Reverse thrust is usually achieved by putting huge shields behind the engines, to force some of the air flow forwards.  They work.  On the A380 only the two engines closest to the body have reverse thrust features fitted.

Once the aircraft speed has been reduced adequately then the very powerful brakes on the main landing gear are employed.

You are down safely, slowed down to a very modest speed and the aircraft can then taxi slowly to its designated parking spot.

Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in August 2002 and released to the public domain

Before take-off

Once you’ve been welcomed aboard the flight by one of the cabin crew and located your seat, you can stow your luggage either in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of you.  (The disadvantage of putting it under the seat is that it can reduce your available leg-room.)

Once all the passengers are boarded and seated, the cabin crew will start the safety briefing. They will show you how to do up and unbuckle your seatbelt, indicate where the exits are and show you how to inflate and deflate your lifejacket.  They will also show you how to operate the oxygen masks that will drop down from the ceiling if there is a sudden decompression.  (Decompression is very rare and few travellers have ever actually experienced it.)  They will do a final check down the aisles to make sure everyone has their safety belts on.  (The correct way is snug, and low down, across the hips.)

After being pushed back by a “tug” the aircraft will taxi to the runway under its own power.  It is customary for the captain to introduce himself and his team.  He will then make the announcement, “cabin crew, prepare cabin for departure”.  At this point you are just about set for take-off.

The cabin crew will “arm” the doors and check on each other to make sure that this has been done, before seating themselves.  The doors cannot be opened when the aeroplane is under way.  The “arming” is to ready the mechanisms that will operate the slides that will automatically deploy upon opening the doors when the airplane is on the surface.  (If the take-off is aborted, for instance, the doors will be opened, the slides will deploy, and everyone will be evacuated from the aircraft.)

Take-off

The pilot will line up the plane neatly on the runway.  The engines tone will rise as they push out maximum thrust.  The aircraft will leap forward eagerly and then gather speed quickly in order to get lift for take-off.  The acceleration will push you gently into your seat.  At a given speed (on a signal from the co-pilot) the pilot lifts the nose gently off the ground and the acceleration continues with the plane balanced on the main wheels, kept in place by the lift on the wings.  (You will usually not notice this).  For technically-minded readers, this phase of the takeoff is called “rotation”.)  Once the craft reaches take-off speed the pilot will pull back on the controls and lift the front of the plane into the air.  You may sometimes hear a faint thump as the wheels leave the ground.

From there the plane will climb sharply, gaining speed and altitude as it goes.  The rate of climb will gradually decrease and the plane will adjust to a move horizontal angle as it approaches cruising altitude.

Why the sharp angle after takeoff?  Once take-off has been achieved then the plane will fly an optimal route to get up to cruising altitude as soon as practically possible.  Quickly achieving altitude gives room for manoeuvre in case of any problems, and also gets the plane out of the immediate vicinity of the airport, reducing the crowding of the controlled airspace.  The aircraft becomes more efficient to run as it gets to the designed cruising speed and altitude.

Take-off noises

Shortly after takeoff the wheels and landing gear will be retracted into the aircraft fuselage, which can cause a slight thump, and the wheel-bay doors shut.  Once in the air, you will hear an assortment of sometimes quite loud noises.  These are normal.  The pilot’s actions are supported by hydraulic power, which ensures that he can control the rudder and other flight control surfaces, which would otherwise require inhuman strength.

Slats and flaps

It can be very disconcerting for first time flyers sitting at the window to see gaps appear in the wings before and during take-off, as shown in the picture accompanying this article.  The structures at the front of the wings are called slats.  The hinged ones at the back of the wing are called flaps.  A number of modern jets fly at a cruising speed of over 800 km/h (500 mph).  Without slats and flaps the takeoff speed would need to be a significant proportion of that speed!  By using slats and flaps the lift of the wing is significantly increased, essentially by increasing the curvature of the wing, which sharply reduces the speed necessary for flight.

After takeoff, once the speed has increased, sufficient lift is generated by the wings without the slats and flaps, due to the increased airspeed.  The devices are then progressively “packed away”.  This is also done using hydraulic power and the changing of the wing to its sleek cruising shape, without holes in it, will usually be accompanied by (sometimes loud) noises from the hydraulic system of the aircraft.

Now that you’re in the air, you should enjoy your flight.  This is one of the safest modes of public transport in the world today.

Turbulence

In June 2009, on an overnight flight from Hong Kong to Perth, passengers were injured when the plane hit severe turbulence over Borneo.  Although treated on-board, they were also taken to hospital on arrival in Perth.  One of those severely injured was directly related to her not wearing a seatbelt.  This is just one example.  The way to try and prevent injury?  Keep your seatbelt on throughout the flight.

Service cart injuries

Some of us ‘spread out’ when we sleep.  Doing that while enjoying the benefit of an aisle seat can be hazardous.  Elbows and ankles have been knocked, due to not-so-careful cabin crew and in some cases, the travellers have sustained fractures.  Means of prevention?  Best to keep your feet out of the aisle and don’t let your arms protrude too far over the armrest.

Added to the above is careless passengers who bump you with either their limbs or bags as they make their way up the aisle.

Hot liquid spills

These do occur, mostly when a cabin crew member either through misfortune, carelessness or turbulence, spills hot liquid on a passenger while pouring tea or coffee into a mug on their tray table.  Or spills it while passing it over the aisle seat passenger to one of the other passengers.  The only cure that comes to mind for this one, is not to sit in an aisle seat.  Or request that it be poured while on the service cart and not when on your tray table.

Intoxicated neighbour

If the person next to you reeks of alcohol (or any bad odour for that matter), you can discreetly request a seat change after take-off.  Most airlines allow this, although if the flight is chock-a-block, you may be out of luck.

If you cannot do the above and you are threatened in any matter, get up and find a member of the cabin crew and alert them.

Overhead luggage bins

As most well travelled globe-trotters are aware, luggage is often displaced during landing and take-off.  Overhead bins are often overloaded and if insufficient care is taken, luggage can fall onto the passenger sitting beneath.  I have been hurt in such a manner when a fellow passenger opened the bin and failed to ‘catch’ their lead-heavy bag as gravitational attraction took over.