Curiosities of the aviation world

The world of aviation is full of curiosities that many of us don’t know, and here are some of them.

• Pointing a laser pointer at an airplane could mean jail, the U.S. criminal code establishes up to 5 years in prison for this practice, so if you are thinking of making a joke and point a plane with your laser pointer, better watch out that you are not discovered.
• The world’s shortest flight lasts only 47 seconds and covers the route between the Westray Islands and Papa Westray in northern Scotland, has a distance of 2.7 km. It is carried out by Loganail airline and the plane used for this flight has a capacity of 8 passengers with a price per ticket of about $21.
• Qantas Airline has never had a fatal accident, has been a leader in operational safety breakthroughs, and has been ranked the safest airline in the world by Australian Airline Ratings.
• The world’s largest and heaviest aircraft is the Antonov AN-225, which first took off in 1988 and was built primarily to carry the Buran shuttle. With almost 1000 cubic meters of cargo, it ranks as the aircraft with the largest cargo volume in the history of the AN-225. This aircraft has flown many missions and has broken 242 world records over 30 years.
• The oxygen masks on an aircraft last only 12 minutes. These masks provide an aircraft’s passengers and crew with oxygen if a difficult moment arises during flight, but they are only rated to last 12 minutes. However, this is enough time for a pilot to make an emergency landing.
• 43% of pilots report falling asleep during a flight. Now that all flight operations are automated, many pilots report accidentally falling asleep during a flight.
• The airport located at the highest altitude is in Daocheng Yadin in China and is at an altitude of 4,411 meters above sea level, while the lowest is in Amsterdam at 3 meters below sea level. 

Surely, thanks to these 7 curiosities of aviation your next trips will have a different meaning, and you can be more attentive to other curiosities that you discover during your journey.