50 aeroplane facts you’ve always been curious about

It’s higher than you’d think. The US National Transportation Safety Board puts the survival rate in the US at 95.7 percent, while the European Transport Safety Council examined the survivability of aircraft accidents worldwide, estimating that 90 percent are survivable (no passengers died) or “technically survivable” (at least one passenger survives). Even within the most serious plane crashes, 55 percent of passengers and crew still survive. Wearing your seatbelt, wearing non-flammable clothing and understanding where the exit rows are will increase your chances of survival.

Knowing how to survive a plane crash will also up your chances.

The answer is unfortunately yes. Up to half of pilots surveyed in the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden report having fallen asleep while flying a passenger plane. And even if they’re not sleeping, they may still be making mistakes in the air because they’re tired. The study found that three out of five pilots in Sweden, Norway and Denmark say they made mistakes because they were tired; in Germany, four out of five did this. But 70 to 80 percent of tired pilots say they wouldn’t tell anyone they were unfit to fly due to possible disciplinary action.

It’s actually arbitrary, Captain Han Hee-seong told CNN. While flight attendants may tell you to put your seatbelt on at a certain time depending on the height of the aircraft, they’re really just giving you a random excuse to make sure your seatbelt is on. In other words, just put your seatbelt on when you sit down, and you’ll be golden.

The aeroplanes are actually the same, according to CNN. The crew have all taken the same tests and are held to the same standards. The only difference is the inside of the plane: some aircraft have seats that are closer together, some have better food, some allow more baggage and so on. But they’ll all get you from point A to point B.

Each engine on a Boeing 747 weighs almost 4,300 kilograms, according to the BAA Aviation Training. Perhaps that’s because it’s made up of 6 million parts. It also costs a pretty penny: you’ll have to spend about $8 million to purchase one of these whoppers.

Perhaps you’re eating because you’re nervous or maybe you’re just bored. According to Oxford professor Charles Spence, author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, the average person consumes more than 14,000 kilojoules during a flight, which is nearly double the recommended daily allowance. Plus, these meals have more salt and sugar within them to make them taste better (you need 20 to 30 percent more sugar and salt on a plane to make the meal taste like it would on the ground, due to our inability to taste on a plane).

The airports are busy, the planes are packed, and it seems like everyone you know is taking off on a beautiful vacay. But only 5 percent of the world’s population has ever been on an aeroplane, according to the BAA Aviation Training. The majority of people from underdeveloped and third-world regions have never been on one and will never be on one. And only a minority of the world’s population boards a plane regularly.

An economy meal costs an average of $10.50, says Anne De Hauw from catering company Gate Group. A business-class meal costs an average of $33 per passenger, as it includes a higher-end meal plus more expensive serving supplies. Most people on a plane desire comfort food, and that’s what they’re given.

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration requires that pilots have 20/20 distant vision, 20/40 near vision, and 20/40 intermediate vision. Don’t have it? Pilots can wear glasses or have surgery. Military pilots have different requirements depending on their military branches, but as of 2007, they are allowed to have PRK or Lasik eye surgery.

It can seem a little odd that windows and seats don’t always line up on planes, but airlines are actually to blame. When the YouTube channel Today I Found Out tackled the subject, it found out that seats aren’t placed with any regard to where windows are because the airlines decide how many rows of seats there will be on each plane, and not every airline decides on the same number of rows.