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Short Wave

How Does An Airplane Stay In The Air?

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.76K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There are many statistics out there that prove that flying on a commercial airplane is safe, that plane crashes are overall pretty unlikely. Still, up to an estimated 40% of Americans feel some fear at the thought of flying. So, amid the travel rush of the holiday season, we ask MIT aeronautical engineer Mark Drela: How does a plane lift off and stay up in the air?

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Ramtin Arablui from ThruLine.

0:03.4

Electricity, internet, cell service, all the things we rely on every day can be unreliable or inaccessible in an emergency.

0:11.9

But through any storm or crisis, radio is a lifeline. Support the resource that's here for you no matter what.

0:19.9

Give today at donate.npr.org.

0:24.3

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

0:30.7

Driving around Washington, D.C., I see commercial planes all the time, taking off from Dulles, coming into Reagan.

0:38.3

They're kind of a marvel of engineering in the form of a gigantic aluminum bird.

0:43.6

But that's not how Remy Barnwell feels about it.

0:46.1

A longtime friend of the show, Ramey is not a fan of flying.

0:50.2

I always had a stuffed animal with me in childhood.

0:53.2

When I would fly.

0:55.0

I still have it.

0:57.1

It's a beanie baby named Bridget.

1:00.6

And one time in the Atlanta airport, I left her on the plane train.

1:04.9

And my family missed our flight because I had to have Bridget to get on the plane.

1:07.6

This fear stayed with her into adulthood.

1:10.6

At 25, she flew to her best friend's wedding. And that was the first time as an

1:12.4

adult, she flew sober, and she was overcome with anxiety. I thought that I was going to throw up

1:17.3

the entire time. Like in the airport, I like couldn't get my heart rate down. I was freaking out.

1:24.1

Like, when I sat down on the flight, I just tried my hardest to fall asleep before it

1:28.9

took off. So that's what Ramey does now. She's chosen the plane nap strategy. Falls asleep before it takes

1:36.5

off, always in a window seat, always cocooned with an eye mask. But the fear is still there in the

...

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