On Monday, Reddit user u/BluPillow asked, "People who work in the airline industry, what are some things you think everyone should know about flying?" People gave some pretty useful info about something we all either love, hate, dread, or feel some type of way about — FLYING.
Here's what they said:
1. "Former pilot here — turbulence will break your nose or your neck before it knocks the plane out of the sky. Buckle up when the light is on and take comfort in the fact that turbulence hasn’t crashed a plane since the 1970s."
2. "The reason you are supposed to open your life vest outside the aircraft in case of an emergency ditching is so that you don't float upwards while still inside the plane. This will trap you and increase your risk of drowning. Always open them outside or immediately before you leave the aircraft, should you need to evacuate on water."
3. "Both pilots are equally qualified — the captain just has more responsibility and more experience (usually). We trade off who is flying and who is monitoring the radios every other flight (sometimes every two flights)."
4. "If you're flying from a small airport, it may be convenient, but it's also more limited on resources. That means if it delays, there's not much to mitigate it. Could go on for quite some time."
5. "There is very little we can actually do to 'make-up time.' The longer the flight, the more we can do, but still, we're talking 5-10 minutes, not an hour."
6. "There are no parachutes on commercial flights, so please stop asking. Parachutes require training on how to use. Accidents rarely happen mid-air. Therefore, having them wouldn't make sense/be practical."
7. "Interfering with the air crew is a felony. If you have grievances, you can address them with the airline after you disembark."
8. "We fly with broken shit on the airplane all the time. We have a list that tells us what can be broken and still be able to fly safely and legally."
9. "Don’t make jokes about the pilot drinking. 'Oh, didn’t I see you at the bar late last night hur hur hur.' We then — for safety and to make sure there is no doubt — will take a BAC test to show we are stone sober. It makes shit unnecessarily difficult."
10. "In most European airports, you can enter the business class security lane with any ticket, not just business. The code scans anyway."
11. "Your tastebuds are reduced by 30-60% on flights. So more salt and seasoning are added to the food so it doesn't seem bland. Might also be the reason so many people crave tomato juice or bloody mary mix ONLY on planes."
12. "I want people to put their names, addresses, and destinations on their luggage. If the tag comes off and you didn't give any other info, we're just relying on how well you remember the look and the contents and how well the person who ends up with your bag documents all that shit."
13. "Your bag is more likely to break flying on a narrow body aircraft, especially 737s. They don’t have containers, so the ramp crew is most likely throwing your bags 30 feet underneath the plane. Every bag gets thrown. The sorting system isn’t soft. Containers get filled by thrown bags. Get a good bag and stop worrying."
14. "Do not wear a butt plug during your flight. I've seen some "unfortunate things happen due to that."
15. "Flying is hands-down safer than driving."
16. "As pilots, we don't mind if you say hi — either before after. Small kids and big ‘kids’ alike!"
Airline people, did they miss any? Let me know in the comments below!
Responses edited for length/clarity and not verified by BuzzFeed.