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11 Things Your Airline Will Never Ever Tell You

Flying on an airplane can be an anxiety ridden proposition most of the time. The problem is that you really have no control over your situation. You must leave your fate up to the skilled and experienced pilots and crews to get you where you are going safely. There are things, however, that airline crews will never tell you in an effort to keep panic and anxiety at as low a level as possible. Here are a few things they will never, ever tell you…

11. You only have 15 minutes worth of oxygen

Air Hostess At Work

Yes, it seems that the oxygen in the drop down oxygen masks only have enough oxygen for fifteen minutes worth of breathing. The crew, of course, has oxygen supplies that will last a lot longer than that. Not to fear, however, because it will likely take less than that amount of time for the plane to get down under 10,000 feet where an oxygen mask is not needed.

10. Odds of being struck by lightning are not as long as you might think

Passenger Aeroplane yielding Thunderstorm

As most of us know, metal is a lightning magnet. The higher the plane flies, the greater chance of it being hit by a lightning bolt. In fact recent aviation research states that a plane will be struck by lightning at least once a year. If there are huge stored electrical charges building up in a particular mass of clouds, the jet may actually incite the lightning. Pilots are fully trained and experienced, however, to avoid potential lightning strikes and special technology is built into the planes to reduce the chances.

9. The bathrooms are able to unlock from outside

source: lifehacker.com

source: lifehacker.com

As an emergency precaution, the bathroom doors on a plane are designed so that the crew can unlock them from the outside. It really is an important design feature as passengers have been know to fall into the toilets or suffered from a sudden sickness, fainting spell, or even a heart attack.

8. The pilots aren’t eating what you’re eating

source: salon.com

source: salon.com

Actually it’s a good thing that pilots don’t have to eat disgusting airplane food. The chances of them getting sick, or disabled, from the food is a good thing to know. The mass media has well enough documented how unclean galleys tend to be, that most crew members never was their hands, foreign objects found in the food and mice have led to the poor reputation for airline food.

7. They never tell the passengers that there may be a bomb on the plane

bomb and bag in airport

In staying true to the old “we don’t want to cause a mass panic” strategy, it is highly unlikely that you will be informed of a bomb scare on the plane. While most bomb scares never turn out to be actual bombs, the less said, it seems, the better. Much of the time, the air traffic controllers won’t even tell the pilots until information has been verified.

6. Blankets and pillows get used several times before they are washed

two chairs prepared to sleep in the airplane salon (vertical) 

Those fresh looking blankets and pillows? They are simply rewrapped and put back into the overhead bins. To save on costs, most airlines will reuse these items many times before they end up in a washing machine.

5. The plane might be missing a screw or two or three

Passenger Jet Plane Flyin Above Cloud Scape Use For Aircraft Tra

You would think that airplane maintenance was of critical importance? Well, apparently the maintenance manuals state that ten percent of the screws can be missing and that is acceptable safety standards. Oh, safety standards do say that there can’t be two consecutive missing screws. Feel better?

4. Never drink the water

source: nydailynews.com

source: nydailynews.com

The tap water on an airplane is far more potentially deadly than any tap water you will find anywhere safely on the ground. In fact, The Wall Street Journal once did an investigation on airplane tap water from 14 separate airline flights. The study found staphylococcus, Ecoli, insect larvae and salmonella. Just remember to drink just the bottled stuff on the plane ride.

3. Your pilot might be taking a nap

source: dead-tired.eu

source: dead-tired.eu

While it is not allowed in American airspace, most other foreign airlines allow the pilot and co-pilot to take power naps if they are flying on a longer route than normal like a flight across one of the oceans.  Fortunately, the regulations only allow this if one of the pilots stays awake while the other one nods off for awhile. One must be awake at all times even if they have engaged the automatic pilot. Pilot fatigue has also become a serious industry problem that no one talks about.

2. Guess what? Your life jacket could be missing

source: wsj.net

source: wsj.net

Yeah, that’s right. Not all of the life jackets are actually on the planes many times and it happens more often than the airlines will ever admit. The problem is with the cleaning crews who don’t tend to be too vigilant with regard to checking to make sure that every passenger will have a life jacket and to replace ones that aren’t there.

1. Your tray may actually be more germ infested than the toilet

source: photobucket.com

source: photobucket.com

Once again, the cleaning crews are not the most fastidious people in that industry. Most fold-down trays are cleaned off with, maybe, a paper towel or well used cleaning rag. Soap and water? Spray cleaner? Lysol spray? Forget it. In fact, one research study found that the many of the trays in the study had a higher germ content than the surfaces in the rest rooms including the toilets. So, bring some baby wipes or, better yet, some travel Lysol spray. Door handles, believe it or not, are some of the most germ laden things in the world.