{"id":83336,"date":"2023-09-19T07:55:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T07:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mylifestylemax.com\/?p=83336"},"modified":"2023-09-19T07:55:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T07:55:38","slug":"we-dont-just-take-off-and-land-im-a-pilot-heres-what-we-really-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mylifestylemax.com\/travel\/we-dont-just-take-off-and-land-im-a-pilot-heres-what-we-really-do\/","title":{"rendered":"We DON&apos;T just take off and land! I&apos;m a pilot, here&apos;s what we REALLY do"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>We DON&#8217;T just take off and land! I&#8217;m a pilot and here&#8217;s what we REALLY do during those long-haul 18-hour flights<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Airline pilot, Gary Baumgardner has cleared up some common misconceptions<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>After a viral TikTok video, the pilot spoke to MailOnline to set the record straight\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><span>READ MORE: Former flight attendant shares the truth about turbulence<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For most\u00a0 on board, long-haul flights are endured with a sleep mask, a few films or TV shows&#8230; but for the pilots flying the plane, it&#8217;s a very different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite common belief, pilots have a lot more to do in the skies after switching to autopilot, and one pilot has taken to TikTok to set the record straight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In response to a confused TikToker who asked: &#8216;What the hell to pilots do for an 18 hour flight, like Singapore\u00a0to New York, 18 hours, all they need to do is take off and land,&#8217;\u00a0 airline pilot Gary Baumgardner said\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sharing to his 240,700 followers the pilot, based at LAX, said that it&#8217;s not &#8216;entirely accurate&#8217; to say they just take off and land.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Clearing up any confusion, the airline pilot spoke to MailOnline.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75369775-12508071-Contrary_to_popular_belief_pilots_have_a_lot_to_do_on_their_long-a-103_1694953192325.jpg\" height=\"1129\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Contrary to popular belief, pilots have a lot to do on their long-haul flights other than press the autopilot button and one pilot has taken to TikTok to set the record straight<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75369771-12508071-The_pilot_said_he_wanted_to_clear_up_some_misconceptions_and_rev-a-104_1694953192326.jpg\" height=\"1129\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The pilot said he wanted to clear up some misconceptions, and revealed to thousands of followers what pilots actually do in the skies<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in the viral video, after just completing a close to 18-hour shift, Gary said he wanted to &#8216;clear up&#8217; some misconceptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>READ MORE: I&#8217;m a former flight attendant and these are the most &#8211; and the least &#8211; demanding nationalities on board\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>He said: &#8216;E<span>verybody thinks we&#8217;re like Homer Simpson up there and there&#8217;s just like a big button we push. One button sit there call it the autopilot and we do nothing.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But, Gary explained: &#8216;T<\/span>he autopilot is a tool the way a bat is a tool for a Major League Baseball player when he wants to go hit a home run.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>For example, the pilot explained that if they are flying during a thunderstorm, autopilot cannot just automatically direct you out of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He added:\u00a0&#8216;If ATC [Air Traffic Control] tells you to climb or descend or turn, that just doesn&#8217;t happen with the autopilot, we have to do that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>According to Gary, they have to complete logs, take ATC calls and do &#8216;all kinds of other things&#8217; such as do system checks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;And\u00a0that&#8217;s just if we have nothing that&#8217;s going on that&#8217;s non normal or emergencies,&#8217; he added.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75369777-12508071-Gary_told_MailOnline_that_pilots_will_only_be_given_breaks_when_-a-101_1694953192315.jpg\" height=\"1131\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gary told MailOnline that pilots will only be given breaks when there are at least three pilots on board and they last typically between 2-3 hours<\/p>\n<p>Another common misconception is regarding pilot&#8217;s sleeping arrangements, but the pilot soon cleared that up and told followers that pilot&#8217;s can sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He explained:\u00a0&#8216;I know for a fact that if you have a flight that is 18 hours long, you have four pilots and we actually have our own beds and bunk beds up there and we sleep and we eat.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>On an 18-hour flight, he said, pilots can eat breakfast, dinner and lunch &#8211; but perhaps not in the correct order due to time differences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to the pilot, most international flights have &#8216;rest bunks&#8217; for the crew to sleep in, but for those that don&#8217;t, he said: &#8216;They&#8217;ll reserve a first class seat that you can sit down and lay in so you can get some rest.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Since it was posted, the TikTok has raked in nearly four million views, and has received thousands of comments from intrigued users.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After much confusion in the comment section, Gary confirmed to MailOnline that there are always two pilots at the controls and that they will only be given breaks when &#8216;you have at least three pilots.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He explained: &#8216;Breaks will vary depending on how many crew members and the length of flight but typically are 2-3 hours.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/17\/13\/75369831-12508071-According_to_Gary_lots_of_things_help_pass_the_time_on_an_18_hou-a-102_1694953192324.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>According to Gary lots of things help pass the time on an 18 hour plane shift, and they may even be given a first class seat to rest in\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gary revealed that he actually prefers longer flights because it is &#8216;more efficient with your time and pay.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8216;Flying 1 flight that&#8217;s 6 hours to Hawaii is more pleasant than flying 3 flights that are 2 hours each. However, not all pilots think this way and many prefer shorter flights.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>One person wrote: &#8216;It&#8217;s an incredibly tough job,&#8217; while another added: &#8216;Thank you for keeping us safe.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One ex-flight attendant commented: &#8216;I&#8217;m glad you&#8217;ve explained this because people used to get mad seeing that pilots are asleep.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, another added: &#8216;Imagine just chilling in first class and you see your pilot chilling next to you.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-12508071\/We-DONT-just-land-Im-pilot-heres-REALLY-long-haul-18-hour-flights.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We DON&#8217;T just take off and land! I&#8217;m a pilot and here&#8217;s what we REALLY do during those long-haul 18-hour<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[653],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>We DON&amp;apos;T just take off and land! 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