Commercial aircraft typically fly
between 31,000 and 38,000 feet
— about 5.9 to 7.2 miles — high and usually reach their cruising altitudes in the first 10 minutes of a flight, according to Beckman. Planes can fly much higher than this altitude, but that can present safety issues.
What happens if a plane flies too high?
If a passenger jet flies too high,
it reaches a point called ‘Coffin Corner’
. This is the point at which the aircraft’s low speed stall and high-speed buffet meet and the plane can no longer maintain its altitude which forces it to descend.
How high do planes normally fly in feet?
But there are good reasons for how high planes fly. In fact, the common cruising altitude for most commercial airplanes is
between 33,000 and 42,000 feet
, or between about six and nearly eight miles above sea level. Typically, aircraft fly around 35,000 or 36,000 feet above sea level.
Can planes fly at 100000 feet?
Q: If a plane went past 100,000 feet, what would happen to it? A:
No commercial or business airplane flying today can exceed 100,000 feet
. Special rocket-powered airplanes can fly over 100,000 feet to gather data, but they are specially designed for it.
Can a plane fly over Mount Everest?
The first men to fly over Mount Everest did so in an unpressurized biplane
. The two planes fly towards Lhotse and Everest at 32,000 feet. Though the 29,029-foot-high summit of Mount Everest was first conquered on foot by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953, it was conquered by air two decades earlier.
Do you need oxygen at 18000 feet?
At 18,000′ MSL, you have half the sea level air pressure; hence,
only half the oxygen
. Oxygen starvation first affects the brain; judgment is impaired, so you may not know you are in trouble.
Can a plane accidentally fly into space?
Cars, trucks and SUVs all use air as part of their combustion process. If an airplane flies in space, it won’t be able to suck in fresh air with which to supply its engines, resulting in loss of propulsion. The bottom line is that
airplanes can’t fly in space because there is no air in space
.
Why do planes not fly over the Pacific Ocean?
Flying over the Pacific Ocean is avoided by most airlines for most flights because
it usually doesn’t make sense to fly over it when shorter and safer routes exist
. The Pacific Ocean is also more remote and less safe than the Indian and Atlantic Oceans to fly over, resulting in a higher chance of a plane crashing.
What happens if a plane door opens mid flight?
The door opening would cause a rapid decompression that would depressurize the plane cabin in a matter of seconds, causing a strong suction pull
. This strong suction pull would cause all loose objects to be sucked outside the plane, including people who aren’t buckled in.
Why do private jets fly so high?
A private jet can fly at a height of up to 45 000 ft, though most cruise at 41 000 ft. This is generally higher than an airline flight and
allows for a more direct route – out of the most congested area of the sky
. A private jet pilot will choose the optimum cruising altitude depending on the distance of the journey.
Why do planes fly at 40000 feet?
Due to lower resistance at higher altitudes, commercial airplanes can keep moving forward with minimal fuel expenditure
. Commercial airplanes typically fly between 32,000 feet and 38,000 feet, with the sweet spot being approximately 35,000 feet, which is popularly referred to as cruising altitude.
Can you breathe 30000 feet?
Somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 feet the pressure around you becomes far too low to push those oxygen molecules across the membranes in your lungs, and you get hypoxic (altitude sickness)
. If you try to breathe 100 percent oxygen above 40,000 feet for very long without a special type of mask, you’ll die.
HOW HIGH CAN military jets fly?
Most military planes fly at around
50,000 feet and sometimes higher
. Some rocket-powered planes can fly as high as 100,000 feet but they are specially designed for this purpose.
How high does a u2 fly?
It provides day and night, high-altitude (
70,000 feet, 21,300 meters
), all-weather intelligence gathering. Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953, it was approved in 1954, and its first test flight was in 1955. It was flown during the Cold War over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba.
How high can a 747 fly?
Boeing 747
Lufthansa previously bragged that its 747-400 could reach the highest altitude in its fleet, reaching a max altitude of
44,947 ft (13,610 m)
. Meanwhile, the modern 747-8, which is well deployed by the carrier, has a service ceiling of 43,100 ft (13,137 m).
Why can’t planes fly over Antarctica?
What is this?
The polar regions interfere with magnetic navigational equipment, making it harder for planes to navigate
. It can also be difficult for planes to connect with flight controllers because of the location’s isolation.
Can a dog climb Mount Everest?
In fact,
the 8-month-old mixed-breed dog has become the first dog in recorded history to reach the Mount Everest Base Camp
. Rupee’s ascent is no small feat — the Everest Base Camp sits at a whopping altitude of 17,598 feet.
How high can helicopters fly?
Turbine-engined helicopters can reach around
25,000 feet
. But the maximum height at which a helicopter can hover is much lower – a high performance helicopter like the Agusta A109E can hover at 10,400 feet.
How high can you fly without a pressurized cabin?
The higher the maximum differential pressure, the closer to sea level the system can maintain the cabin. Federal Aviation Regulations say that without pressurization, pilots begin to need oxygen when they fly above
12,500 feet
for more than 30 minutes, and passengers have to use it continuously above 15,000.
What altitude can you fly without oxygen?
When the altitude of an airplane is
less than 12,500 feet
, there is no supplemental oxygen required for anyone in a private plane. From 12,500 feet to 14,000 feet, supplemental oxygen must be used by the required flight crew for any portion of the flight that is more than 30 minutes.
What’s the highest altitude a human can survive?
An elevation of about
20,000 feet above sea level
is the maximum height at which sufficient oxygen exists in the air to sustain us. By comparison, the summit of Mount Everest (the Earth’s highest mountain) lies at 29,141 feet.
Is it better to crash on land or water?
Its surviving rate is probably greater than on land
. I have seen many pilots preferring to land on water. Its surviving rate is probably greater than on land. Surviving impact perhaps, when landing on water, but if not close to land unlikely to survive for too much longer.
How far up is space?
A common definition of space is known as the Kármán Line, an imaginary boundary
100 kilometers (62 miles) above mean sea level
.
What is the highest a plane has ever flown?
On July 17, 1962, American test pilot Robert White took the X-15 to an altitude of 314,688 feet. But it’s Russian pilot Alexandr Fedotov who holds the world altitude record, set on August 31, 1977, when his MiG E-266M reached a mere
123,523 feet
.
Can a helicopter fly across the Atlantic?
A helicopter can fly across the Atlantic
– and this has been achieved several times. The first transatlantic helicopter flight took place in 1952. The first non-stop transatlantic helicopter flight took place in 1967.
Why is it forbidden to fly over the Taj Mahal?
The Taj Mahal
Although there’s no official no-fly zone over the ivory mausoleum, there is a mile-and-a-half radius above the historic site which security agencies consider to be a no-go when it comes to flying. This is because of
security reasons – as well as risks to the building’s white marble from plane pollution
.
How do planes fly if the Earth is spinning?
First,
as the Earth itself rotates, it takes the air with it
(thanks, gravity!). That includes the air through which planes fly. At the equator, the Earth spins about twice as fast as a commercial jet can fly. That rate slows the closer you get to the poles, but regardless, it’s always going to be faster than a plane.
