This Memorial Day weekend is guaranteed to be one of the busiest travel days at US airports, and probably the most stressful. Interminable lines and misinformation all contribute to putting travelers on edge.
Happily, a lot of the worries are needless.
For starters, don’t worry about somebody opening the door while you’re a mile up in the air. As pilot Patrick Smith explains in Business Insider, even the Hulk can’t open an airplane door while the plane is in midflight. “Cabin pressure,” he says, “won’t allow it.”
That said, some popular myths are rooted in reality. For those who fear that they can get stuck on the toilet of an airplane by flushing while sitting on it, Adam Savage, formerly of TV’s “MythBusters” show, put the fear to the test. He actually did get stuck — but just for a moment. Should that happen to you, try to relax: You will be free, but it won’t feel great when you have to pry yourself off the seat.
For many people, just getting on a jet is reason enough to call for a cocktail or three, and blame getting inebriated on flying itself. Folk wisdom has it that you get drunk faster when you’re miles above the ground than you do when you’re on it. Skyscanner cites research saying there’s no physiological difference.
Do lightning bolts flashing by outside your plane window scare you? Relax. As the Washington Post reveals, you have to go back to 1963 to find an airplane being brought down by lightning. And that happened because electricity in the sky ignited fuel vapors, which led to an explosion. That was a once-in-a-lifetime incident and unlikely to happen today, thanks to enhanced safety precautions.
Lightning aside, the other so-scared-you-hold-the-hand-of-the-passenger-next-to-you moment is extreme turbulence. While it’s undeniably frightening, as long as you’re buckled in — and don’t spill hot coffee all over yourself — you’ll probably survive unscathed. Again, that info comes courtesy of pilot Smith: “For all intents and purposes, a plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket.”
Finally, a cautionary word about cellphones: As reported by CNN, using your phone won’t bring down a plane, but it may interfere with radio transmissions between the cockpit and the airport. Whatever call you’re making is less important than the one being relayed from the control tower to the pilot.
Although, sometimes flying can still be pretty scary: