[unknownaccount]

Random question but do you people who play flight simulators but never flown a real plane think that if you were on a commercial passenger jet and the pilots became incapacitated that you would be able to take over the controls and land the plane safely?

[cameronh90]

I have flown a Cessna in real life but never a jet. In sim, I usually fly Airbus, usually at night or in clouds, relying mainly on the instrumentation and charts.

For your scenario, I think if it was an Airbus, the conditions weren't too extreme and there were no failures, I'd have a pretty good shot at a successful landing. If it was a Boeing, I wouldn't know where to start.

I don't think flying is that hard at a basic level. Arguably it's easier than driving once you've got your head around the millions of buttons and switches. The challenge is what you do when things go wrong, and adequately planning for that situation.

[unsignedint]

We do come across the news some passengers landing the plane with guidance from ATC time to time, and maybe ones with prior "training" with flight simulators may know at least how planes operate in certain extent, perhaps even where right switches are located. This alone may reduce a lot of back and forth with ATC, as they could say "turn the heading knob to 010 within autopilot cluster" as opposed to "you see there's a section of instrument called autopilot on the top center of the console -- you should see the knob that says heading, turn it so it says 010." At least it would be less intimidating to ones that has seen them in simulations. (after all, that's what simulations are all about...)

It's probably safe to say you'd get 50% edge just by knowing how plane controls works (roll, pitch, yaw) -- I don't think a lot of "general public" would have idea what they are, let alone how they are mapped to things in a cockpit.

[Buttons840]

Maybe if I could get the radio working. After that I've probably played with the autopilot systems enough that I could follow instructions. Such a scenario would most likely happen in a smaller aircraft and I imagine they'd guide me to the largest runway around, and landing a small aircraft on a full size commercial runway probably feels like the runway goes for miles and miles.

[thomasin500]

Having played lots and lots of flight simulators using Yolks, Pedals, and physical buttons, etc, I think with guidance from ATC, I would be more likely to land a plane safely compared to the general public. How much more is up to debate...

[seper8]

Depends on the plane, weather conditions, air traffic control and the runway. Does the runway support ILS, will ATC help guide you, clear skies & daytime? Probably would work