WEBVTT - How Air Traffic Control Works 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.600 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:16.759 from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:22.400 the podcast. This is Josh Clark. I'm with you. Alongside 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.800 me is Charles W. Chuck Bryant. We're about to take 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.960 this joint thirty three thousand feet into the air. But 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:33.559 it pushed some tin. Yeah, that's the lingo it is. 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.880 It's yeah, I saw that movie. I assume that's the lingo. 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.080 Otherwise they probably would not have titled it be sleep. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.760 You could also they could be about like a car 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.040 driving movie too, somebody who has like a pretty good 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.800 radio flyer wagon. There's a lot of things that they 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:54.440 could apply for a recycling movie. Yeah, yes, we're speaking 0:00:54.440 --> 0:01:00.280 of the Mike Newell like with Billy Bob Thornton Man 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.640 one John Cusack Cusack. Yeah, that's where John Cusack can 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.000 Um Angelina Joelie met and ended up getting married. You 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:12.600 mean Billy buck Port. No, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.959 didn't think it was very good. Are you kidding? Did 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:16.760 you like it? All? Right? All right, I have to 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.240 admit that movies that I thought were awesome in the 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.600 late nineties. When I go back and watch him now, 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.400 I'm usually like, not as great. Yeah, there's very few 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:25.960 that hold up. I'm trying to think of one that 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.800 I saw again recently that did hold up. I'm gonna 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:30.600 sit here for a while until I think of it. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.480 It wasn't Pushington, though, I don't know. I haven't seen 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.560 it for a while. Well, in the movie, they were 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.000 air traffic controllers. Yes, and um, that's what we're gonna 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.960 talk about today. So that's how Pushington relates to this one. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.280 I thought I cleared that up in case people were like, 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.120 what are they talking about again? That you got any 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:53.440 other good air traffic control movies? Well, Airplane, Yeah, of course, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.120 Classic Lloyd Bridges. Looks like I picked the wrong week 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.559 and stuff difflue. Yeah. Other than that, I have nothing. 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.040 Oh what about all the real airport movies? Oh? Sure, yeah, 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:14.360 Airport seventy Airport see the Grunge Years. Um, speaking of 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.520 the Grudge Years, I've recently gotten into David Foster Wallace 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.320 and I am genuinely sad that he killed himself. He 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.120 was a good guy. He was a good writer, good guy. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:25.960 Like from what he's shared and his writing he was 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.480 pretty cool. Well, I think a late um acknowledgement of 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.079 feeling bad about that is better than nothing at all. 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:38.080 So welcome upboard that train, Thanks Chuck. Yes, have you 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.160 ever been to Reagan National Airport? I know you have 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.320 because I've been there with you, my friend. The sickest 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.640 I've ever seen another human being was you at Reagan National. 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:51.120 Oh my god, stomach flu people actually get green, I 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.079 learned from looking at you. And hats off to me 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.079 for pitching a television show to Science Channel in between 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.919 vomiting Bob Inning episodes. That was rough. You had a 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.839 staph infection in your stomach, like jumped up and after 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:06.560 we pitched the show and like ran to the bathroom 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.640 and puked and then came back and he's like, hey, 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.720 thanks for the time. Yeah, it was something. So that 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.400 was a bad flight home. Yes, well it could have 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.600 been even worse because had we been flying at night 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:22.880 UM about a year ago, last March, sometime between midnight 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.040 and six, we may have been forced to land at 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:31.440 Reagan d c A we'll call it UM without the 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:35.840 help of any air traffic controller. That's because one night 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.720 in March last year, two thousand eleven UM. The one 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.400 guy who was controlling the tower for all flights at 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.440 d C a UM fell asleep and could not be roused. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.000 I mean he was out drunk. Because that happened in Colorado, 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:55.320 remember that. Uh No, there was a drunk air traffic 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.360 controller that they pulled from the job. K. That's so 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.680 not cool. No, that is a job where it's like 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:06.400 you drug test them every day. You you smell their 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.920 breath when they come in. There's somebody whose jobs should 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:15.000 be like clapped next to their ears. Like. But this guy, know, 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.120 his his thing was this is his fourth consecutive overnight 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:22.720 shifting and he was he couldn't stay awake. Um so 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:27.320 uh but apparently other control towers were calling him, right, 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.800 couldn't wake him up? There radio and him couldn't wake 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.000 him up. And then they have this system called the 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:36.360 shout shout line where like you can call somebody and 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.160 it goes through a p a system really loud. They 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.080 were shouting to wake this guy up, and it's in 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:45.640 place for that reason. Yeah, geez, and uh, nothing nothing happened. 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.560 So two different flights landed themselves, and I should say 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:53.120 they didn't necessarily land themselves the brave, valiant people at 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:59.760 trey Con. The what is it, the terminal radar approach 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:03.440 can troll people who are have nothing to do with landing. 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.760 They took over and help safely land two planes. Yeah, 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.280 it was a scary night. Well, and what you're illustrating there, 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.320 which is what we'll get into, is that there are 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.360 a lot of people that get you from point A 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:18.600 to point B when you're sitting there enjoying your vodka 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.560 gimblet but not peplaining about the peanuts. God help you 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.120 if you open peanuts on a plane these days, they 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.920 will tackle you. Really. Oh yeah, people who have peanut allergies? 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:35.000 Is that new? Yeah? But that was it to Austin. Yeah, yeah, 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.480 that's right. I had never heard of that before. That's 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:42.320 happened to us before. Wow is this your first time? Yep, 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.720 I just got a text. Let's just go ahead and 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:47.520 leave that into all right, Well, I need to show 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.680 our unprofessionalism. These are free for now. All right, I'm silent, Okay, 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.720 all right, so you're back with me. Yes, um, I 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.800 did not know about the peanut thing. I've never heard 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.279 of that before. On our flight to Austin, they said 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.880 we have someone who's allergic and no one can eat 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.920 peanuts on the whole flight, like, don't even open them up. 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.000 And then they served as pretzels that it said on 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.520 the on the label, Um, these are processed in a 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.400 plant that also processes peanuts and other nuts. Does it really? 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.359 But at least they weren't peanuts. But that's happened you 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.560 me and me before on flights where it's like, dude, 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:23.200 there's somebody who's so violently allergic to peanuts you can't 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.120 even open them. So, because my first reaction was kind 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:27.680 of jerky, I was like, well, that's not fair to 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.640 everyone else. And then I thought, come on, I don't 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.000 even care for the peanuts, you know, yeah, they're not 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.120 even that good. Now, who's who cares people who really 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.440 love peanuts? I'm sure, But I guess what I'm trying 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.320 to drive at is that's everything there is to know 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:46.240 about air traffic controllers the end, Josh, there are approximately 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:53.120 fifty tho aircraft operating in US airspace every day. So 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.960 here's the thing. If there's five thousand in the sky 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.800 every hour during peak hours, and did you do some 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.599 math that didn't work out? I don't understand this because 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.200 think about. So let's say every hour was a peak hour. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.320 Well they're not, otherwise it wouldn't be a peak hour. 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.360 All right, I guess that's what it is then, But 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:15.240 even still that's crazy. It seems off. But whatever I'm 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.880 gonna I defer to Freud and Rick. He has a 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.400 PhD and I don't, although I always wondered what it 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:24.840 was in who Craig's the author of this article's PhD? 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.280 We should? We should? We can find that out. Okay, 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.880 maybe it's an honor. It's like a Bill Cosby doctorate. 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.680 You know, he's got like ten of them. He apparently. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:36.680 I used to make fun of Bill Cosby, like because 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.440 I think he's an old crank jerk, and um I 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.720 got called out once it was making fun of his doctors. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.640 He apparently has at least one I think in education 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.480 like that he earned. Yeah, that wasn't just from a 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.720 speaking engagement. Well who am I My dad has a PhD. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:57.080 So we should probably start talking about air traffic controllers. Yes, um, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:01.000 it's actually I thought this was very cool how it worked. Um, 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.600 and we're gonna get into it pretty specifically, from from 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.080 the time you are sitting on your plane to the 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.160 time you land and are getting off your plane. And 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:11.800 for those of you who like to fly between say 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.840 um D C in Atlanta, this will last approximately about 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.000 as long as your flight will. Now, well, we'll go 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.280 through it all right. Let's start out with air space. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.760 There twenty one zones in United States airspace or centers. 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.560 Each of those zones is divided into sectors, and within 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.240 each of those zones, Uh, there are portions of air 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.720 space about fifty miles what in diameter? Yeah? Yeah, And 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.800 that is called TRACON. That is the terminal radar approach 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.640 control that you talked about. And within the traycon there 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.559 are could be several airports depending on where you are. 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.680 Like for example, if you're in the San Francisco area, 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.680 you have not one, not two, but three international airports 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.480 within that tracon within just a few miles of each other. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.440 And each of those airports has their own five mile 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:05.559 radius of their own airspace. But that can overlap. Evidently, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.880 are they within five miles? Uh No, I'll bet you 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.000 they don't build them within five miles of each other 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.320 or ten miles if if it's a five mile radius, 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.200 that would make a can overlap. So, but this map 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.319 might not be the scale because it looks kind of cartoony, 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.880 but it looks like they're pretty close. It's confusing in 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:21.880 the very last, at the very least, there's three international 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:26.400 airports within the same tray con alright, so f A 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.640 A they run the traffic control system. It's a government body. 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:32.360 They take care of it all. We'll get to the 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.840 strike a bit later. You don't want to talk about that, No, 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.160 I was just excited about talking about We can talk now. No, No, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.880 it's okay. Uh. So there's there are several different um 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:47.080 uh divisions and we'll go over there's now so you 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.120 know what we're talking about here when you take off, 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.000 and you'll know who's handling you at any given moment. 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.840 And it's all pretty intuitive. Sure it makes sense. Uh. 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:59.760 Freud and Rick used a really good um analogy I thought, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:04.559 as completely clear as any misunderstanding whatsoever. Up. It's all 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:07.800 very much like a zone defense. Yeah. You just as 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:09.640 your plane is moving, it could hand it off from 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.679 one person to another person to another person. As your 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.440 plane crosses through the air space. We could really stop there. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.199 But let's not, okay. Division one Air Traffic Control System 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.960 Command Center a t c S c C. They oversee 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.080 the whole ball of wax and manage control within the centers, 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.600 uh when when there's problems. So I get the impression 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.840 that these guys are like the cream of the crop. Yeah, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.240 like they're like, you, you've got some pretty bad weather here. 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.240 I'm just gonna go ahead and take over your controls 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.680 and handle this for you. Yeah. I got that, Yeah, 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:44.079 I got that idea. Um they have Next is the 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.200 air Route Traffic Control centers, and there is one a 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.720 r T c C for each center, and they manage 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.959 traffic within all sectors of that center except for that 0:10:55.000 --> 0:11:00.440 fifty mile tray con zone. Yes correct, Yes, Okay, these 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.320 are the ones where it's kind of like you're on 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.560 the boonies. Okay. They could get the impression that Trecon 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:12.520 airspace is like, um, a little urban. Yeah, Like they're saying, 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:17.800 like there's actual airports here. This is just over the 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.760 over the great planes. There are the air traffic, air 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.000 route traffic control centers all right. Then you got your 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:27.120 terminal radar approach control, which is what we've been talking about. 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:30.480 The fifty mile zone that handles that, you know, flights 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:34.600 leaving and coming into the airport. Essentially then you have 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.040 the air traffic control tower. You've all seen those, and 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.320 everyone probably thinks that that's all there is going on, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:42.480 is just the tower. That's just one little piece of 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:46.760 the puzzle. That's exactly right. That's basically like it's almost 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.720 like you can look at it as an expanded version. Right. 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.520 So an airport has its own control tower, a few 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.920 airports will share a traycon and then if you expand 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.640 out further geographically, you run into air route traffic control centers. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:03.520 And then if you look at the United States as 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.400 a whole, you've got the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:12.560 Well done, it's like the Power of ten the AIMS documentary. Yeah, 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.559 exactly like uh. And then finally you have the flight 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.960 service station the f f s S, and that provides 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.360 information for private pilots UM flying out of like you know, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.719 Charlie Browne Airport here in Decapp County. Yeah, and if 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.080 you're a small pilot, you're allowed to fly by visual 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:35.160 flight rules, which means you use your peepers UM. And 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.440 if you use your peepers to fly, you don't have 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.640 to file a flight plan and you are basically guided 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:46.000 by UM a flight service station UM if you happen 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.920 to fly a plane that has I don't know, like 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:53.160 two people in back. You're flying what's called instrument flight rules, 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.600 which means you can fly in any weather because you're 0:12:55.679 --> 0:13:00.599 using radar. UM. There's usually a psychic aboard who is 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:05.280 UM asked to give weather predictions things like that. UM, 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.640 and you are directed by this whole f A A 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.480 run ball of wax like you said, this whole quote 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:17.440 unquote f a A. Alright, so UM, yeah, I remember 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:21.920 when Kennedy Junior died, he was UM. Wouldn't it he 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.559 was not instrument rated? Wouldn't that the deal? I think? So? 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:31.240 I think he was just UM visual VFR rated And 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.160 they said that he shouldn't have been flying in that weather. 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:39.679 He was instrument rated. It's very sad it was. UM. Okay. 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:44.880 So let's say you're flying, um, Jacob, this is Jacob Silverman, right, No, 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.560 this is oh I was Silverman with the medical marijuana one. Okay, 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:53.240 that's next or in three weeks. You never know. UM, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.520 Let's say you're flying from New York to San Francisco. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:14:00.600 They're gonna be seven different portions of that flight, starting 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.599 with pre flight and ending in your landing. True to 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:08.520 what's in between. Oh, well, you've got take off departure. 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.760 You have en route, which is synonymous pretty much with 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:18.240 cruising that favoring altitude uh or vodka gimblet time for you. Uh. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.640 And then you have descent. Folks were just made our 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:27.520 initial descent. Yeah, wake up, um, off your stuff, yeah, approach, 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:31.360 and then you've got well, like you said, landing. Yeah. 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.120 You know what else they called the scent is uh 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.440 skym all time. Oh yeah, because you've got to turn 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:38.840 off all your stuff that you're passing time with. And 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.600 all of a a sudden, you're like, and I guess I'll 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.960 read the sky Mall magazine. I make a second or 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:46.560 third concerted effort to go back to sleep. It's like, hey, 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.520 we're five hundred miles out, we're making our inctional descent. 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:51.240 We're not gonna be there for another hour, but I 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.320 want to talk to you. It's it's like, yes, we 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.760 all have sensed it in our inner ears. Just go 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.440 back to flying the plane. Yeah. Emily gets annoyed with 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:01.720 the descent that she can't get up and pee any longer. 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.440 Well you can really, well, yeah, she did it in Austin. 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.680 Gotten there. You know, they always say like, you should 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:09.600 sit back down, and she's like, do you want me 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.720 to peel over there? You don't want that? Yeah, yeah, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:17.360 but they will not move. They can't move. If if 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:22.600 you're stuck on the the tarmac on a runway or 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.480 something and you have to get up and go to 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.640 use the bathroom, if you can go, the plane can't 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.840 move because you have everybody has to have their seatbelts buckled, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.680 and you held the plane up for Hey, sometimes you 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.480 just have gotta go. You gotta Luckily, I've never been 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.800 in that situation where you're like, you hear people saying, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.000 like I was on the tarmac for like three hours, Yeah, 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.640 I would lose it. Man, knock on wood, I would 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.520 get off. I would be like, they'd have to air 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.600 marshal me out of there. Get off. I always sure 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:52.960 you can. I thought you got to do with say 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:54.960 the right things. Then all of a sudden you're being 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.160 escorted off, right, But then you're off and then off 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:01.720 the jail. Not necessarily, Oh, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, at 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.560 the very least, you're gonna be detained for the rest 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:05.840 of the day. I'd rather be in jail cee, that 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:07.640 is jail sitting on a tarmac on a plane with 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.760 all those people as jail to me does not have 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.400 Go magazine. That's true. Okay, pre flight, Josh, what's gonna 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.920 happen here? You're on your plane, You're feeling good, you boardered, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.440 your drink or taking your pill? You're trying to fall asleep. 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.720 I I don't take pills anymore. Are you good to go? 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.800 I am? That's nice. Uh, your pilot is gonna be 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.320 um doing some important things which don't include drinking. Hopefully 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:33.920 they're gonna be checking over your plane right. Uh, they're 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:37.400 gonna file the flight plan thirty minutes prior. Yeah, which 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:39.600 so a flight plan. I always thought like I would 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.640 never want to be a pilot flying a filing a 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.320 flight pan plan sounds terrible, right, And then upon reading 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.480 this article, I'm like, that's the flight plan? Really? So basically, 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:49.800 can I tell him what a flight plan? What do 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.880 you think it was? Oh? I thought it was like 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.040 this detailed like chart route, like here, we're gonna just 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.120 move to the left just slightly, and then we're gonna 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:59.560 go up over this mountain and then back down. No 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.639 light plan is the airline's name and flight number? Right? Um? 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.960 The kind of aircraft. It is, uh, what you intend 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:13.400 to fly at altitude and speed wise and then um, 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:18.520 you know which way you're going. That's it the route. Yeah, 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:21.040 I'm now I'm kind of like sure, I'll be a pilot. Yeah, 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:23.120 that's what you gotta do. I don't think i'd want 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.800 to to log that kind of travel. Well, no, of 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.040 course you wouldn't. Um. And the reason that they it 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.959 is probably that minimal is because they want the pilot 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.920 to be flying the plane and concentrating on that while 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.879 the men and women in the control centers handle all 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:43.080 the other stuff. Like we'll get into right now. So 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.679 you've got the flight data person who says, hey, this 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:48.919 flight plan looks pretty good. I'm going to print out 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.280 a strip that has to do with um, you know 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:57.000 your Well, basically, I think there's like twenty one different 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:01.280 little uh pieces of information yeah, that any air traffic 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.040 controller can look at and say, oh, based on this, 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.480 this guy should be here right now if anything happened 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:12.399 to the flight. Um. The the flight progress strip is 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.560 what when you have a flight like it's it stays 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.160 with your flight the whole time. It gets passed off 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.399 between person and person and changed as needed. Yes, and 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.040 this is all to begin with filed with the f 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.840 A a host computer, so before they can do anything, 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:27.760 it's got to be in the main frame. Well, the 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:30.200 host computer is the one that gives that spits out 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:32.840 the progress, so they follow the flight plan and then 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.080 it spits out the route. Yeah, probably like oh you're 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:37.879 going this route, Well, then this weather is here and 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:39.800 you've got to look out for ducks over here and 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.560 that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah, And another thing I 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:47.040 learned too, there are regular ascending and descending corridors that 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.280 I think they just are typical for that airport. Not typical, 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.200 but used for that airport. So they're not just like, hey, 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.160 why don't you fly out this way today? Yeah, it's 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.800 a really neat if you fly into Hartsfield here in Atlanta, uh, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:04.800 world's busiest airport. Um, when you're flying, when you're coming 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.720 in for a landing, there's a whole road that stretches 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.680 back for ten miles of planes that are coming in 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:15.280 right behind you. That's the corridor. But if you look 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.720 over to your left or you're right, there's like three 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:19.879 or four of them. At any given time, three or 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.360 four of these lines planes all flying into Hartsfield. Yeah, 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.280 I didn't realize they lined them up like that. But 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.840 when they're coming, you've got ten planes coming in, He's like, 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.520 all right, get in line. And there's a certain the corridors. 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.000 You you come in at a certain altitude, like a 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.879 certain corridors like, oh, you come in at this altitude, 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.680 A different corridor comes in at a higher altitude. It's 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:45.639 all very exact. Yes, thank god. Uh. So you you 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.200 have your approof flight plan, You've got your little progress 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:53.040 strip in your flight data person is gonna say clearance delivery, 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:56.760 and the pilot's gonna finish up his drink or her drink. 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.760 You think it's so funny. I do. And they're gonna 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.080 give that strip to the ground controller in the tower. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.960 So now the ground controller is in possession of of 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:11.600 your of your junk, right, because that's how they get 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:15.119 pilots to land, to ensure that they're going to come back, 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:19.200 is by hanging under the junk while they're gone. That's right. Uh. 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.680 They are responsible for the ground traffic, taxing, all that stuff, 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.680 making sure planes in that huge parking lot down there 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.240 aren't running into each other. Yeah, that seems like that's 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.879 a that's a big one. The ground controller might have 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.640 the most frenetic job because everybody else it's like, here's 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:38.360 a plane that's landing, and yes, you have to keep 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.480 up with the distance between other planes, and you're managing 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.119 several planes, but you're managing them in a corridor, right. 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:46.800 This guy's got like all sorts of crazy stuff going 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.720 on with planes trying to get out and get into 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.520 the runway system, and especially at a Hartsfield. Yeah, like 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:55.880 you can't just say you just go ahead and pull 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.960 across runway ten there to runway twelve and you'll be fine. 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:02.080 You gotta make sure there is nothing taxing around or 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.280 landing obviously. And I believe the ground controller is one 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.800 of only two air traffic controllers that are allowed to 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:13.320 use binoculars. The local controller and the ground controller are 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:15.680 the only ones they can use binoculars, which is pretty cool. 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.040 Like these guys strike me as like early NASA dudes 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:20.639 who like put put men on the moon, right, you 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.040 know what I mean. Like they wear like a short 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.959 button down yellow shirts with brown ties, and like they 0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:29.040 have big four arms, and like maybe they have vaguely 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.840 like military haircuts. They look like Ed Harris and Apollo thirty. 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:37.840 That's who I was describing. Okay, sorry, Uh so you're 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:42.280 taxing to the runway. The ground controllers watching all this stuff. UM, 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:45.520 this is all transmitted by radio initially, and like they say, 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.600 all right, get on channel whatever, Mr Pilot or mrs pilot, 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:51.959 and we will direct you to the or miss pilot, 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.320 excuse me, and we will direct you to the correct 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.040 runway right, and then I will pass that off to 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.760 the local controller here. Now, now, this plane is yours, 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.480 and the local controller is the one who is keeping 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.800 an eye on distances between planes and UM basically making 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:12.520 sure that the sky is clear for takeoff there in 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:15.760 the tower. And they're the ones who say, pilot, you 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.679 are clear for takeoff, and the pilot says, okay, but 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:23.680 I'm gonna check myself first, looks both ways, and goes okay. 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:27.600 And when the pilot's radied, the pilot powers up, lifts off, 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.560 and you've got the local controller hanging onto the the 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.399