We can get to any city in the world where planes fly. But there are exceptions. And what they are caused by, our article will tell.
Why don’t planes fly over the Pacific Ocean? We can get to any city in the world where planes fly. But there are exceptions. And what they are caused by, our article will tell.
We are already accustomed to being able to get to any city in the world where planes fly quickly and with great comfort. And are there places over which iron birds hardly fly? Oddly enough, there is! And one of them – the Pacific Ocean .
Ukraine , Ukraingate , 11 , December , 2021| International News
Where do planes fly
The vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean stretch from the coasts of North and South America to the coasts of Australia and Eurasia. Its area is almost half of all water on earth and washes the shores of five continents.
This is the largest area on Earth. So why do airlines avoid it? After all, a direct flight from Australia to Chile or from China to Mexico is much shorter. So it could reduce the required amount of fuel and, accordingly, the cost of tickets.
Let’s hurry to reassure readers. Planes still fly over the Pacific Ocean. In the end, tourists and Hawaiians need to somehow get to Honolulu. But the number of planes on the map makes it easy to see that such flights are much less frequent than over the mainland. There are several reasons for this.
Security
Passenger safety above all. And the distances between the islands in the Pacific Ocean are huge. If the accident happens over the ocean, the crew will have to make a hard landing on the water. And this threatens the victims.
If the engine fails, the plane may move on another for some time. Based on this, flights are planned. Thus, according to ETOPS aviation regulations, if one engine fails, the aircraft must be able to fly to the nearest aerodrome in no more than 3 hours.
Therefore, most flights over the ocean are laid so that the airliner moves the maximum amount of time over the coast. However, if you have to cross the Pacific Ocean, it is done in places where the nearest landing sites are located nearby and meet all safety standards.
The curvature of the earth
Looking at the map, it seems that a direct flight from Los Angeles to Singapore should be completely over the ocean. But, as we know, a map is only a projection of a sphere on a plane that has many distortions.
In fact, the shortest path will be in an arc. And in our case, this arc will deviate sharply to the north, passing along the US coast, over Alaska, Japan, Korea and China.
Finally
There are many island nations in the Pacific Ocean: Vanuatu, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa. Communication with the mainland is vital for them, so the flights still take place, despite the potential risks.
But there are places on the planet where flights are strictly prohibited. For example, the Himalayas. The average height of this mountain system is about 6 km above sea level. And when the cabin is depressurized, pilots are required to go down to 3 km so that passengers can breathe on their own.
And this should be done in 20 minutes, after which the supply of oxygen masks will run out. Therefore, passenger airliners fly over the “Roof of the World” from the south, over India.
Source : Ukrgate
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