The Terminal Quiz - Commercial aircraft and how they operate. | Transport

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these planes is NOT a "jumbo jet"?

Answer: MD-83

The term "jumbo jet" is primarily reserved for "wide-body" aircraft with a larger passenger capacity. While the MD-83 was a stretch version of the DC-9, and thus carried more passengers, its narrow-body type discounts it from being a proper "jumbo".

2. When it comes to aircraft accidents, investigators are eager to get a hold of the so-called "black boxes". What are they hoping to find?

Answer: The FDR and CVR

The "black boxes" are typically always painted red in color to make them most noticeable in times of recovery.

The initials refer to the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder.

3. If you're on a plane taking off from a runway designated as "18R", what direction will you be flying into?

Answer: South

Runways around the world have designations determined by their rounded heading (0-360 degrees) and drop off the final zero.

A runway labelled "18" is a heading of "180" degrees, which is due south. Fun fact: while due north runways COULD be listed as "0" all are assigned as "36."

If a runway has a letter after its number, typically it's because the airport has multiple runways lined up in the same matter, so "L" would be "left," "R" would be "right," and "C" would mean "center".

4. Have you ever been on a "jumbo jet"? Well, perhaps you've been on this one. It is the largest commercial plane ever built and still operates successfully to this day. Can you name it?

Answer: Airbus A380

While I'm an American and take pride in Boeing's history as an industry leader (in spite of some recent setbacks) I have no hesitation in saying that France's Airbus manufactures great aircraft.

Airbus overtook the market with their A320s over the 737s and while Boeing's 747s were never scheduled to last as long as they did, Airbus with the 380 series is doing a pretty good job holding the top spot.

Personally, I respect both companies. When something happens to one of their aircraft, they WANT and NEED to know why. They both share that they care. I'm not trying to single out any airframe manufacturer, but when you're one of the largest, everything you do gets scrutinized and I believe that these two heavy hitters have an absolute soft spot for any hurtful truth so they can correct it.

5. Let's say you're on a flight and the crew tries lowering the landing gears on approach, but they don't go all the way down into their locked position. What is an alternative that the pilots could utilize to get the wheels to fall into place that has been proven effective?

Answer: Gravity

Gravity is the simple answer. All planes are designed for their landing gears to drop and lock due to the consistent force that we all take for granted every day.

6. Hopefully you've never been on a plane that has had the oxygen masks drop in front of you (and hopefully you never will). There are several reasons why this may occur, but if that happens to you, make sure you put your mask on. Breath it all in... What is the first thing that needs to happen before you take it off?

Answer: Your altitude has dropped below 10,000 feet.

All of the options are correct.

However, the FIRST THING that needs to happen is to get down to a breathable atmosphere.
Humans can live at heights of 10,000 feet just fine, in fact, even higher. Though, when it comes to air travel, 10,000 ft. is the accepted minimal altitude for people to be guarded against hypoxia. (Lack of oxygen.)

Until you get to and/or below that level, none of the other options apply.

7. Have you ever watched an aircraft accident investigation show, like "Mayday"? If you have, you'll know that if a commercial airplane crashes in the United States, multiple parties are typically involved in the investigation. But which one of the following is the LEAST likely to be involved in an actual investigation?

Answer: Manufacturer of the aircraft involved

The manufacturer of the airplane in the accident complies and discloses essential information, but doesn't actually investigate - although they are just as interested in figuring out the cause.

The NTSB covers the mass of the workload and makes recommendations based on its conclusions, and it's then up to the FAA to make any or all of them mandatory or not. The FBI only ever gets involved if a bomb or terrorist threat is suspected, but will play a major role in such cases.

8. I don't know if you prefer a window or aisle seat... maybe you like being at the back of the plane, closer to the lavatories, or further forward to get on and off quicker. (Or perhaps you ride First Class... GOOD FOR YOU.) But if you've ever been seated over the wing of the plane, you've probably noticed it about to transform like a robot in one of those "Transformer" movies... However, can you tell me what is NOT a part on the wing of an airplane?

Answer: Elevator

The elevators are on the tail, and are used to control the pitch. They are part of the horizontal stabilizer.

9. What does the "stick-shaker" in the cockpit of a plane do? In other words, if it starts doing what the name implies, what is the aircraft doing?

Answer: Stalling

When the "stick shaker" was introduced to captains it most certainly improved air safety for a simple and unignorable "stall" warning. However, it was realized that it needed to be implemented on both sides of the cockpit.

After a couple accidents that involved power loss to the left seat that disengaged any reaction in the yolk to indicate a stall, the right seater in these cases had power but a stick-shaker wasn't installed... meaning, they could control the plane but didn't know what the immediate problem was.

Stick-shakers were later mandatory on all aircraft.

10. There are many things to see in the cockpit of a modern-day aircraft. But which of these would you NOT see there?

Answer: CVR

These are all important components of a plane. But the answer is in fact the only one that has the word "cockpit" in its name - the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which is typically located in the rear of the plane. The other sets of initials stand for the following:

ADI: Attitude Direction Indicator - sees how your plane lines up against the horizon.

GPWS: Ground Proximity Warning System - "Terrain! TERRAIN!"

TCAS: Traffic Alerting and Collision Avoidance System - informs flight crews that there are other planes in the sky that may be getting too close. Crews try to establish visual contact with the other aircraft and acknowledge one another.

Source: Author z0diak

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Terminal Trivia Quiz

Commercial aircraft and how they operate.

Almost all of us have been on an aircraft at one time or another (or hundreds of times for some). This quiz tests how much you know about what takes place in routine flights to get you safely to where you want to be.

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