Pax Behavior

[LAXSaabdude]

I saw someone do this the other day, and I realized I had seen this many times in the past, and I asked myself...what is the deal?

Pax is walking down the jetbridge, as they approach the doorway of the airplane they knock or tap twice on the side of the fuselage. Is this some kind of a good-luck ritual? Seems like a lot of people do it.

LAXSaabdude.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Ha ha ha...now that you bring that up, I've done it before. Maybe subconsciously making sure it doesn't dent like a beer can.

Some sort of low cost metal fatigue test or something????

 

[New2Flying]

When I see passengers do that I say to them (jokingly), "thank goodness, we missed that safety check!" Then I reassure them that we have performed all the necessary checks and that their safety is our number concern. (what about my safety...not like I have a death wish!)

 

[avbug]

True. With rudders rolling hard over, BE-1900 controls siezing or breaking on takeoff, airbus vertical stabs falling off, aircraft spontaneously exploding over Long Island, 747 wings falling off in Asia, the Concorde losing it's rudder 37 times and exploding in flight in a spectacular ball of fire once...it's amazing that any passenger would ever make a quiet gesture of self assurance when they place their lives in our hands. After all, we've done safety checks. A really thorough preflight. And Mx. never pencil whips work cards or squawks. Never.

And the media never picks up on it, either. And the public never hears about it...

I suspect that pax wrap on the fuselage in order to see for themselves how solid it is. Who hasn't done the same thing when looking at fine woodwork, or anything else where one might guess at the solidity of the object? It's natural curiosity. Will it sound solid, like a billet of steel, or will it sound like a beer can?

It's not just the non-pilot public. I jumped on a regional aircraft in Cody once, headed for Salt Lake City. Riding along fat, dumb and happy in back. The flight made for the runway and took it in short order. The PF held short first, doing several power runs on the engine, before taxiing into position. Then a power run with the brakes held, followed by a brake release and our roll. We rolled several hundred feet before the engines were yanked back to idle, and heavy braking applied. We stopped on the runway. More engine runs. Then a cabin announcement.

"We had a problem and we think we got it fixed. We're going to go now." That was it. No courtesies, nothing but the facts, ma'am. We rolled, and climbed to 15,000. There, we went into a series of amoeba-like holds that were nothing like the published hold over Cody. All over the place. Then another anouncement that the problem appeared fixed, and that we were going to try to get to SLC.

The flight was uneventful, until a long straight in final to 16R at SLC. The PF spent a good 20 miles of long final walking the rudders back and forth, rocking us nearly to sickness, some to sleep. Rythmically, back and forth, right and left, over and over, all the way to touchdown. No wind, calm conditions. Just some kind of nervous, stupid habit.

Even as a working pilot with an understanding of the needs in the cockpit, I never like riding in back, and I have a healthy distrust for a good share of the pilot population. Perhaps I've just been in the business long enough to know too many pilots. I've known some good ones, and a lot with whom I wouldn't send my dog. I was fortunate that day on XXX airline...my dog was safe at home.

 

[Immelman]

As a lame GA guy with nothing but a near-worthless commercial license and a handful of time flying light singles, I gotta agree with Avbug.... I have done the same way when standing in the doorway of a 7x7.. actually last time I wasn't tapping on anything, but trying to estimate the thickness of the aluminum skin. Its interesting stuff to be near a big airplane for someone like myself; for the non-flying public who are the least bit inquisitive (some people don't seem to care, others do), I can see that it would be even more of a mystery that our curious nature wants to figure out.. "how strong is the skin, where is the frame, how much fuel does it take to run ths thing", etc.....

 

[Salty Dog]

I'm guilty.

As one who leaned way over the rail at the Air & Space Museum to touch the second of both X-15s, I would say it's an attempt to absorb something about the sensation that spot of metal had/will have out in the cold, wind, and rain of 500+ mph hurtling through the upper atmosphere.

That part which will be completely separated from my fat, cushy butt ensconced firmly yet softly in the fabric and foam of what could easily be my grandmother's sofa. How far apart are those two worlds? A few mils of aluminum? Dorky as it sounds, it's a touchstone.

That, and the fact that I can't get in an airplane w/out petting it at some point for luck.

If you see me scratching its belly, however, I've completely lost it and don't let me fly...

 

[Flying Illini]

I always touch the exterior when boarding an airplane. It's a bonding thing. Whenever I'm a pax it's just my way of saying "hi" and getting to know the airplane that I'm trusting my life to. When I sit up front, my preflights are always hands on. Probably more hands on than it needs to be and I prefer to do it alone (which isn't always possible but first flight in the morning it's usually pretty quiet). It's just my way of talking to the airplane without speaking. I know, crazy, but that's just how it is.