Aviation Myths & Misconceptions

When the time came for me to leave high school & further my education, I chose to go into aviation – more specifically, the field of avionics. Avionics is defined as electronics as applied to aviation. What does the mean? It means I spent years in classrooms listening to old people speak, I read a pile of textbooks, I spent a lot of time around & in airplanes, I studied for tests & exams & I finally got a piece of paper which proves I know something… apparently. Take that & combine it with my interest in the airline industry, you get a nerd with an aviation obsession. I have kept DanVenture Travels exclusively about travel because that is fun & relatable to a bigger audience, but I believe the time is right for a bit of variety of topics.

The general public is largely misinformed about flying & airplanes. In preparing for this post, I read a number of articles on various websites about aviation myths. I’ve never searched for or read articles like these before since one doesn’t generally believe myths about something they’ve studied & I was concerned. Reading aviation answers & explanations online is frustrating because while they do contain truth, they are simplified to get the average person to understand. This is mostly done incorrectly & to the point of the explanations becoming misleading & ambiguous in many cases.

Lightning & aircraft

There is a popular belief that if the airplane you are on gets struck by lightning it is a truly terrible & unfortunate occurrence & that you will plummet down in a blazing inferno. If you have this concern & do an internet search, you will most probably read the phrases “Planes get struck by lightning all the time.” & “Lightning simply has no effect on an aircraft.” Both of these phrases are not 100% accurate. Planes do get struck by lightning. Don’t go believing that every time an aircraft performs a flight or flies through some kind of weather that it will be hit by a bolt of lightning because it isn’t that common, but it does happen from time to time. No one will be electrocuted & the plane won’t crash. Sometimes the flight crew will notice slight effects & other times the aircraft sustains some damage which will require some maintenance.

Pilot parachute

You would be surprised at the things that can be found in a civilian aircraft, but a parachute for the pilot is not one of those things. I’d be interested to learn the origins of this myth. People who think this is true are thinking in terms of an airline pilot & the idea of this happening in real life actually baffles my brain more than it amuses me.

Follow this blog & keep an eye out for the next post on this subject.

Keep traveling, keep safe.

DanVenture Travels