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Can planes fly next to each other?
In controlled airspace, the required minimum horizontal separation between aircraft flying at the same altitude is five nautical miles, which is just over 9 kilometres. When an airplane is departing, Air Traffic Controllers can place aircraft much closer to each other than they do at cruise altitude.
Do all flights have 2 pilots?
On commercial airlines, there are always at least two pilots, and on many flights, there are three. All airline pilots have had extensive training and flying experience, often as part of military service. On an airliner, the pilot in command is called the captain.
Can a plane land by itself?
Yes a plane can land by itself using a system that is often referred to as “autoland”. The pilots can program the auto pilot to carry out the landing automatically whilst the pilots monitor the aircraft.
How do automatic landings work on commercial planes?
The pilots can program the auto-pilot to carry out the landing automatically whilst the pilots monitor the aircraft. However there are limitations as to when the autoland system can be used. Automatic landings probably account for less then 1\% of all landings on commercial flights.
What happens when an autopilot fails?
Fail Passive – Where you have 2 autopilots engaged, such that a single autopilot failure will result in the disengagement of both autopilots with no significant deviation from the established flight path. In this case the pilot must manually take control and go-around/land.
What is autolanding and how does it work?
Autolands can only be performed under strict conditions that require the certification of both the aircraft (often downgraded to no autoland capability due to technical issues), both of the pilots and the airport itself. The pilots are still required to configure the aircraft and control it’s speed and monitor its flight path.