China's Extreme Smog
Forces Pilots to Train for Blind Landings
Airports in china are dealing with extreme smog, it is so huge
that pilots who are landing into china need to processed through training for “blinding
landing” or also known as “Cat 1” or that it is impossible to see further than
50 meters. Chinese
authorities have mandated that pilots of domestic airlines be qualified to
land when visibility falls below 400 meters “Cat 3”. Chinese officials are targeting to reduce flight delays
at Beijing Capital and Shanghai Pudong airports, which are two world’s worst
records for on-time flights. The rules apply only to China’s domestic pilots
and won’t affect training for U.S. aviators.
The kind of low-visibility approach mandated in China has become
common for many U.S. carriers, particularly Alaska Airlines which mastered
such landings in Alaska, where fog and rain are frequent. The company says such
equipment and pilot training save it about $15 million annually, because
cancellations and diversions on flights to Alaskan airports have been reduced.
I think it's quite ironic how pilots are taught to have these 'blind landings'. I mean.... airplanes and such efficient forms of transportation were crafted in order to aid us, and simplify things. The irony in this is that humans got to careless with their actions - which are mostly encouraged by greed of private corporations - and now we're paying for the consequences by having the liberty to simply 'fly out' become an issue and a complicated process (referring to the plane issues and landings in China due to smog)
ReplyDeleteI think it's ridiculous that instead of dealing with the smog, humans are trying to adapt to the conditions instead. Why do we choose to do that? As you said Mihajlo, private corporations are more powerful unfortunately sometimes than the government...
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