- 2 hours ago
Interesting transportation facts about plains, trains, and cruise ships! Enjoy watching!
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FunTranscript
00:00Pilots can't eat similar meals when they're working.
00:02Imagine that you're on a trans-oceanic flight.
00:05The airplane is flying over the Pacific Ocean.
00:07Flight attendants deliver the dinner meals.
00:10Everyone is enjoying the pasta.
00:12The sauce tastes a bit funny, though.
00:14Hmm, that's probably okay.
00:16After all, you aren't eating an aircraft meal.
00:19It can't taste like a five-star chef plate.
00:23Time goes by.
00:24Oh no, you were right.
00:26Something was indeed wrong with the food.
00:28But if all the passengers have the same problem, so do the pilots.
00:33To prevent both of them being out of order,
00:36pilots are advised not to eat the same meal at the same time.
00:40In such a scenario, if one pilot feels bad, the other one can take over.
00:45I mean, this is not an imperative rule stated by the Federal Aviation Administration,
00:50but most airlines make their own rules about this matter.
00:54Flight attendants have access to hidden equipment,
00:56such as a defibrillator, supplemental oxygen, a fire extinguisher, and duct tape.
01:02But probably the most interesting gear they have is handcuffs.
01:06These objects are there to protect passengers from others,
01:09and sometimes from themselves.
01:11Turns out that flight attendants have everything they need to defuse a troublemaker.
01:16Aviator sunglasses look cool on pilots in movies,
01:19but in real life, they don't wear polarized glasses.
01:23First off, they have a glare-reducing effect.
01:25This can cause some trouble in the cockpit.
01:27A pilot has to read instruments, but the stuff in the cockpit, such as LCD displays,
01:33emits polarized light.
01:35So a pilot with those cool polarized glasses can't read the displays with 100% efficiency.
01:41Pilots shouldn't wear these glasses simply because of safety concerns.
01:45Imagine a shimmer of glare coming from another plane's windscreen,
01:48but the pilot missed the sign because of polarized sunglasses.
01:52Ever noticed a hole in the tail of an airplane?
01:55Well, most commercial airplanes have it.
01:58Next time you get into an airplane, take a closer look.
02:01The hole has a fancy name, Auxiliary Power Unit.
02:05It looks like a hole from the outside, but that is actually a hidden turbine engine.
02:09Most of the time, the APU will remain off for the entire flight.
02:13It will start working when the plane lands.
02:15It provides power to the cabin lights, air conditioning, and cockpit electronics.
02:20Don't underestimate the APU's power, though.
02:23It can also provide the power required to start the main engines.
02:27You've watched a bright side video and learned what the APU is.
02:31A perfect icebreaker.
02:33Unfortunately, you're not in a chatty mood.
02:35You just want to take the plane, land, and start your vacation.
02:39Yet again, there is only one door to board.
02:42You are at the end of a queue.
02:44Why don't planes generally have multiple doors?
02:47According to the experts, the biggest issue is that the bridge takes up a lot of space.
02:52When an aircraft is loaded from the front and the rear, it takes up two slots.
02:57This is not ideal for the administrators.
02:59Newly remodeled or constructed terminals tend to have dual boarding compared to the older terminals.
03:06Change of scenery.
03:08Let's jump into a cruise ship.
03:10There are hidden passageways and secret doors in ships.
03:14These secrets are from an insider.
03:16Staff on the ship mostly work in their designated area.
03:19How does a worker get from one place to another without using the stairs and doors that the passengers use?
03:26There is a network of corridors and stairs all around the ship, used only by the crew.
03:31I mean it when I say secret doors.
03:34They blend with the walls.
03:35So they go undetected by those who don't know where the door is.
03:39Maybe you can stumble by accident.
03:41Here is a clue.
03:42Pay attention to the walls near the guest stairs.
03:46Try to think of those gigantic cruise ships as floating metals.
03:50This leads me to a cruise cabin fun fact.
03:53The walls of the cruise ship cabin are magnetic.
03:55Imagine you're traveling to multiple countries on board a cruise ship.
03:59A single month voyage.
04:00You collect destination-themed magnets and decorate your cabin.
04:04True cruise fans know this magnet magic.
04:07So they put a couple of magnetic hooks into their luggage.
04:10Neat tip.
04:11Use magnetic hooks to add extra storage in your cabin.
04:14Hang clothes and accessories, postcards, or hats.
04:18Speaking of ships, why do some ships and boats have small holes constantly releasing water?
04:24To keep the bilge free of water.
04:26Water builds up over time inside the bilge.
04:29And the bilge pump automatically pumps the water out again.
04:33Ships don't have headlights.
04:35Using a headlight could prevent accidents.
04:37If they work for cars, why not for ships?
04:40Headlights are the source of light.
04:41But the light that comes out of them bounces back at the light source at some point.
04:46With cars, for instance, headlights work because the area you want lit is narrow.
04:51And you can easily take action if you see an obstacle on the road.
04:55For ships, this is super hard.
04:57The light source should be powerful enough to light the area the captain wants to see.
05:02Large cargo ships, for instance, need more than a mile to stop or take action.
05:07Plus, imagine how much brighter should the ship's light be to light the whole area in front of it.
05:12They do see each other with different sorts of lights called navigation lights.
05:17These are small but practical.
05:20They arrange it in a standardized way so that ships could see each other.
05:25The exciting thing is that they don't just notice one another in the dark.
05:29They also understand each other's movements and directions.
05:32Here's an example.
05:34Imagine a ship with two nav lights.
05:36The one on the front is lower, near the ship floor.
05:39The other one on the back is high up.
05:41This means the vessel goes to the right.
05:44It can safely pass by the other ships without hitting them.
05:48Trains don't have seatbelts.
05:49A bit weird.
05:52Every time there is a crash related to trains, this matter comes up.
05:56Pretty much nowhere in the world seatbelts are used on trains.
06:00Various studies have been made about this issue.
06:02Some of them created simulations of accidents.
06:05And the results were surprising.
06:07Using a seatbelt on a train could potentially increase the number of injuries.
06:11In cars, seatbelts are highly effective in protecting the passenger and are used all the time.
06:17The logic behind the seatbelt is to protect the person when a collision causes rapid deceleration.
06:22But trains carry so much momentum that they don't stop rapidly.
06:26On a plane, passengers use a seatbelt on takeoff, during landing, and if turbulence occurs.
06:32There are no such things for trains.
06:34Entering and leaving a station is not a high risk.
06:37Experts believe focusing and making investments are other ways to improve railway safety.
06:43Now, you are traveling by train.
06:45You look outside the window.
06:47There are small stones along the railway tracks to accompany you on the journey.
06:51Those stones are formerly known as track ballists.
06:54They do a very important job.
06:57They provide support to and maintain the tracks.
07:00They're not there by mere coincidence, though.
07:02Now look at the stones closer.
07:04You can notice that there is no single smoothly cut stone on the tracks.
07:08Because they're not regular stones randomly poured at the rails.
07:12Each rock has sharp, inabrupt edges.
07:15Sharp edges hold onto each other.
07:17They protect the railroad from harsh concussions.
07:19They facilitate water drainage in heavy rain and keep down the grass and other weeds.
07:25Now imagine replacing those with round pebbles.
07:28They will slide down.
07:29Eventually, the ballist will spread out and tracks will fall apart.
07:33The last thing you would want, especially if you were a passenger on that train.
07:38Turbulence is caused by sudden shifts in the airflow and is nothing to be afraid of.
07:42But if that simple knowledge doesn't help you, try this visualization from a pilot.
07:47Put a small piece of napkin inside a pot of jelly.
07:51The napkin is the plane.
07:53And it's surrounded by jelly.
07:54Or sorry, by air pressure.
07:57If you tap the jelly, the napkin will not fall anywhere.
08:00It just starts slightly moving within the jelly.
08:04Once the plane gets to its cruising altitude,
08:06it seems like the engine noise disappears altogether.
08:09No worries there.
08:10The engine is still working fine.
08:12It becomes way quieter than on takeoff
08:14because there's less thrust generated at this point.
08:17The air gets thinner,
08:19and the plane needs less power to maintain its altitude.
08:22If the pilots leave the engines at their climb setting,
08:25you'd be traveling beyond the speed of sound.
08:27And that isn't a part of the plan.
08:30That small hole you see on the back of airplane tails
08:34is part of the auxiliary power unit.
08:36It's there to produce power for an airplane's electrical systems,
08:39including lights, navigation controls, heating, and AC.
08:44The power unit is activated when a plane is on the runway.
08:47It doesn't provide complete power to airplanes.
08:50Once the airplane engines are turned on, the unit is disabled.
08:53It's only reactivated when the airplane lands at its destination.
08:58The turbines are located under the wings,
09:01since this makes it cheaper, faster, and easier to service the engines.
09:05They used to be placed in the tail,
09:07but it required expensive equipment and much more time to repair.
09:11When they started installing the engines below the wings,
09:14ticket prices went down.
09:17When seated in the exit row on most planes,
09:20you need to pull the window blind up, not down, to close it,
09:23unlike in all other seats.
09:25It's designed so for safety reasons.
09:28The overwing exit is there to help people quickly leave the plane
09:31in case of an emergency.
09:33Some of those exit window doors stay attached to the plane.
09:36Others come away from the fuselage,
09:38but they all have an emergency handle at the top of the panel.
09:42You wouldn't be able to open the exit without it.
09:44There's another handle on the outside of the plane.
09:47Rescuers use it to open the door from their side.
09:50Because of this handle,
09:51there's no room for the blind to retract above the window.
09:55But there's more than enough room for it below the window.
09:58Makes sense to me now.
10:01You can actually raise the right armrest when in the aisle seat.
10:05The lock is on the underside of the armrest.
10:07It's not a button, but a lever close to the back of the seat.
10:11You can pull it to let the other passengers pass to their seats.
10:14The same tip works for the left armrest of the window seat.
10:18You can lift it up to lean on the window.
10:20Don't forget to lower the armrest during takeoff and landing for safety reasons.
10:27Planes usually use a small, powerful tug on airport grounds
10:30when they need to pull back out of their parking spot.
10:34But it doesn't mean they can't move backwards on their own.
10:37To do so, they need to use reverse thrust,
10:39and the powerful air current from it can pull some debris into the engine
10:43or cause damage to ground vehicles, the gate, or the ground crew.
10:47It would also use a lot of fuel and be incredibly loud.
10:52Plus, the pilots don't have rear-view mirrors like drivers,
10:55so they can't see behind them.
10:57Now you understand why this risky process is banned at airports.
11:02They make plane wings smooth to let air flow easily around their surface
11:07and reduce resistance during the flight.
11:09Those convex, yellow hooks, though, don't they worsen the aerodynamics?
11:14True, but they are necessary for your safety.
11:18Imagine a plane making an emergency landing in the open sea.
11:21The aircraft is sliding on the water.
11:24Then, rescue boats arrive to evacuate the passengers.
11:27Before the door opens, the escape slide inflates.
11:32Passengers need to walk on the wing and move down the slide,
11:35but the wing surface is slippery because of water.
11:38To prevent anyone from falling, the stewards install a rescue rope.
11:43They attach one end to the door and the other to the edge of the wing,
11:47passing it through these hooks.
11:49During the evacuation, people hold onto this cable like a railing.
11:53They can also attach rescue boats to the wing with a rope and these hooks,
11:57so the sea won't take people far away from the plane.
12:01When flight attendants pass through the cabin during the flight,
12:04they always touch the upper shelves above the seats.
12:07No, they don't check if the luggage compartments are closed.
12:10There are hidden handles along the bottom of these compartments.
12:13Flight attendants hold onto them not to fall.
12:16It's a pretty convenient thing since they don't have to touch the seats
12:19and disturb passengers once they're moving around the cabin.
12:23Have you ever noticed the flashing light in the cabin before takeoff?
12:27It's 100% safe.
12:29It occurs when the pilot disconnects a plane from the airport power supply
12:32and switches to the onboard one.
12:34This rapid transition may cause flashing.
12:38Passengers always board from the left side.
12:41That's because the captain sits on that side of the cabin.
12:43It's easier for him to align the plane with the terminal jet bridge this way.
12:48Also, the aircraft is fueled and loaded with baggage on the right side.
12:52With passengers boarding from the left side,
12:55the crew can do their job undisturbed.
12:59You might have noticed black triangles on the wall above the seats.
13:03For you, as a passenger,
13:05they may indicate the seats that have the best view of the wings,
13:08where you can take the most beautiful flight photos.
13:11But the triangles aren't there for this reason, of course.
13:15The crew members monitor the condition of the aircraft
13:17through windows under these signs.
13:19In case the wings freeze, the engine catches fire,
13:22or the pilot receives a signal something's wrong,
13:25the crew will quickly move to the triangles and assess the situation.
13:30Those mysterious chimes you hear during the flight
13:32are a kind of secret language the crew uses to communicate with each other.
13:36The chime you hear shortly after takeoff
13:38informs the crew that the landing gear is getting retracted.
13:42A single chime during the flight
13:44is a sign that one of the passengers needs the assistance of the crew.
13:48When they're serving meals and run out of food or drinks,
13:51they can ask their colleagues to share
13:53using a high and low chime combo.
13:56Three low tones means serious turbulence is approaching,
13:59so the crew needs to buckle up.
14:02A seatbelt on an airplane
14:04has a slightly different purpose from that in your car.
14:07The one in the vehicle protects you from a horizontal hit.
14:10When a plane is going through turbulence,
14:12it's shaking up and down.
14:14Your waist belt keeps you from hitting the ceiling.
14:18The tray table,
14:19the seatbelt buckle,
14:20and the toilet door handle.
14:22Those are some major feeding grounds for bacteria.
14:25But the seat pockets aren't any cleaner.
14:28Passengers leave their used tissues or wipes in there
14:31after cleaning a runny nose or coughing.
14:34They also become a residence for other sorts of trash.
14:37Even once the trash is out,
14:38the bacteria remain in their cozy pocket home.
14:41The next passenger becomes their new prospective target.
14:45Blech!
14:47Extreme heat is one of the weather conditions
14:49that can stop a plane from flying.
14:52Airplanes fly by generating lift with their wings.
14:55The air below the wings takes the plane up.
14:58In extreme heat,
14:59the airplane can't produce that much lift.
15:01That's because hot air expands
15:03and becomes way less dense than cold air.
15:07With less lift,
15:08the plane may find it really hard to take off and fly.
15:12Electronics will unlikely respond well
15:14to extreme heat or humidity,
15:16and the AC system may fail.
15:19Smaller jets can't operate at a temperature
15:21of over 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
15:25Larger Airbus and Boeing planes
15:27perform the best below 126 degrees Fahrenheit.
15:31The Himalayas have some of the highest peaks in the world,
15:35including Mount Everest.
15:36But it's no surprise
15:37airplanes find it difficult to navigate the area.
15:40But why are commercial airplanes
15:42actually banned from flying there?
15:45Roger, flight 80.
15:47For starters,
15:49these mountains have an average height
15:50of more than 20,000 feet.
15:52Mount Everest,
15:53the highest mountain in the entire world,
15:55stands at 29,037 feet high above sea level.
16:00The area is rough,
16:01filled with snow,
16:02and has almost no flat surfaces.
16:05In case of sudden cabin depressurization,
16:07it would be really difficult
16:08to perform an emergency landing,
16:10since there's literally no flat area there.
16:13More so,
16:14the low oxygen environment at such an altitude
16:16means there's likely to be a lot of turbulence.
16:19Not only is it really unpleasant for passengers,
16:22but random air movements
16:23and high wind velocity
16:24means that it's really difficult
16:26to maneuver the airplane.
16:28This area is also quite low populated,
16:30so there's not much there
16:32in terms of radar systems.
16:34And radar is crucial for aviation safety.
16:37Without radars,
16:38pilots would be unable to communicate with the ground
16:40to figure out flight conditions.
16:42It can also get so cold up there
16:44that jet fuel might completely freeze.
16:47Sure, the fuels used in airplanes
16:49usually freeze at around
16:50negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit,
16:52but it may be possible above Everest.
16:55The lowest temperature was recorded there
16:57back in December 2004
16:59when thermometers showed a staggering
17:01minus 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
17:03So, no wonder pilots
17:04don't want to ever take that risk,
17:06especially on a commercial flight.
17:09Among the few airports
17:10located in the Himalayas,
17:12there's one considered to be
17:13the most challenging to land in the world.
17:15Only eight pilots on the planet
17:17are certified to do it.
17:18It's called Paro International Airport
17:21and it's located in Bhutan,
17:22a landlocked country
17:24in the eastern Himalayas.
17:26First, landing there is so dangerous
17:28because you're literally flying through
17:30some of the world's tallest mountain peaks.
17:32Not to mention that those eight pilots
17:34also have to consider strong winds.
17:37Despite the challenges,
17:38they do manage to safely land
17:39over 30,000 people each year.
17:42Moving further,
17:43there's no radar there to guide the pilots,
17:46so they need to maneuver the aircraft
17:47entirely in manual mode.
17:50The pilots need to track their movements
17:52based on specific visual landmark checkpoints
17:55as they approach the runway.
17:56Moreover,
17:57flights are only allowed there
17:59during daylight hours
18:00and under good visibility.
18:02These pilots also need to watch out
18:04for utility poles and roofs
18:05on the hillsides too.
18:06It means they often squeeze their planes
18:08between mountain peaks at 45-degree angles
18:11before dropping quickly onto the runway.
18:13No wonder only two airlines
18:15fly to Paro International Airport.
18:19Apart from these commercial pilots,
18:21there are specially trained
18:22helicopter rescue pilots
18:23who spend most of their career
18:25at 20,000 feet in the sky.
18:28Most of the time,
18:29they partner with equally experienced climbers
18:31who train by crossing the Khumbu Icefall.
18:34It's dubbed the most dangerous square mile
18:37on the planet.
18:38Made up of ice pillars
18:39as tall as a six-story building,
18:41this huge stretch of the glacier
18:43on Everest's western side
18:45is filled with bottomless ice holes.
18:47It takes between 4 to 12 hours
18:50to get from one edge of the icefall
18:51to the other,
18:52depending on the experience of the climber.
18:55You may think it's a pretty serene location
18:58since you're literally only surrounded
18:59by ice and snow,
19:01but these local professionals claim otherwise.
19:04One Everest veteran said that the noise
19:07was actually the worst part of the job.
19:09The mountain produces awful squeaking sounds
19:11and sometimes even sighs.
19:13It often makes people feel like it's talking to them,
19:17warning them about the treacherous environment.
19:20Mount Everest isn't the only no-fly zone in the world.
19:24Surprisingly,
19:25Disney parks are also part of this exclusive club.
19:28So you won't ever be able to look out of your plane window
19:31and see the beauty of fairytale castles from up above.
19:35In recent years,
19:36a lot of crowded tourist attractions,
19:38including Disney parks,
19:39have increased their security measures
19:41to make sure their visitors are as safe as possible.
19:44As such,
19:45no aircraft is allowed to fly
19:47within 3,000 feet of Disneyland in California
19:49or Walt Disney World in Florida.
19:52It was initially a temporary ban,
19:55but this rule became permanent
19:56back in 2003.
19:59Some other places don't have planes flying over them
20:01because of their historical importance,
20:03like Machu Picchu,
20:05located in the Peruvian Andes Mountains.
20:07There's also a large number of rare wildlife species
20:11and plants that grow exclusively in this area.
20:14It's crucial that they're protected as well as possible.
20:18What does it have to do with planes
20:20not flying over that area?
20:21Firstly,
20:22it reduces the volume of harmful chemicals in the area.
20:25Secondly,
20:26if a plane ever needed to perform an emergency landing
20:29in this location,
20:30it'd cause irreversible damage to buildings and wildlife.
20:34Surprisingly,
20:35planes can fly over the Greek Parthenon in Athens,
20:38but with one condition,
20:39not to get closer than 5,000 feet above it.
20:42This way,
20:43the historical building is kept a bit more protected
20:46from any emergency landings,
20:47since there are specially designated areas around it.
20:52You won't be able to see the Taj Mahal from above either,
20:55since it's one of the most important,
20:57oldest,
20:57and most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world.
21:00It also needs added security features.
21:03This building dates back to the 1600s.
21:06UNESCO announced it a World Heritage Site in 1983.
21:09The Indian authorities set up a no-fly zone above it in 2006.
21:15They did it to safeguard not only the building itself,
21:18but also the crowds of tourists that come there each year.
21:21Seven to eight million people.
21:25Buckingham Palace is well known for being the residents of British monarchs.
21:29So, for the Queen's security,
21:30a no-fly zone was set up here too.
21:34Planes aren't allowed to fly over Windsor Castle either
21:37to make sure the royal family is equally protected.
21:40Other important British buildings with no-fly zones
21:43include No. 10 Downing Street,
21:45the British Prime Minister's official residence and office,
21:48and the Houses of Parliament.
21:50George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Virginia,
21:53can only have planes flying above it at more than 1,500 feet.
21:58The historical wooden mansion was built for President George Washington
22:01between 1758 and 1778.
22:05Unfortunately, the building has seen a lot of damage over the years.
22:09So, in an effort to preserve it better,
22:12authorities decided to prohibit vibrations produced by flying aircraft.
22:16That's why another no-fly zone was established there.
22:19It covers the airspace above this National Historic Landmark.
22:23That's probably the reason why you'll rarely see pictures of this house from above.
22:28Since it's the resident of the U.S. president,
22:31it's not allowed to fly over Washington, D.C.
22:34It's also the home of Congress and other establishments.
22:37So, the authorities set a special flight rules area,
22:41stretching for 30 miles around Ronald Reagan International Airport.
22:46This means that it's one of the airports with the most precise takeoffs and landings.
22:51Pilots have to carefully tackle no-fly zones,
22:54which sometimes results in uncomfortable takeoffs for passengers.
22:58Whenever a pilot breaks a no-fly zone,
23:01it's a big problem,
23:02like the one that happened back in 2005,
23:05when a pilot accidentally steered the plane into a prohibited zone.
23:08The capital had to be evacuated immediately,
23:11and their regular activities were interrupted.
23:14Other capitals of the world have similar requirements,
23:18like Budapest, for example.
23:19In the capital city of Hungary,
23:21planes aren't allowed to fly over the ancient inner city of Pest and the Buda Hills.
23:27Almost all air traffic is generally prohibited above Paris, too,
23:31with some exceptions.
23:32Aircrafts flying no lower than 6,500 feet.
23:35Flying helicopters are also a big no-no within the city limits.
23:40Only certain choppers undertaking precise missions can get special authorization.
23:45Generally, passenger planes aren't allowed near the island of Manhattan, either,
23:50partly because of the really tall buildings there and the added risk of collision.
23:53But mostly because all three major New York airports,
23:57John F. Kennedy International Airport,
23:59Newark Liberty International Airport,
24:01and LaGuardia Airport are very close to each other,
24:04so the air traffic in the area has to be really well thought out
24:07to make sure the planes don't cross paths.