>On 02/04/11 @ 9:21 PM, Jon Glass wrote:
>
>Hm. Then why do they _normally_ turn them off?
Uh, Safety!
Most accidents will occur during the takeoff or landing phase.
You don't want your passengers wired in during landing in case there is
an accident. Headphones, wires, and emergency egress do not work well
together.
BTW, on a side note, I've seen folks practicing emergency egree from a
military aircraft when they (the pilots or emergency crews) forgot to
disconnect their helmets from the aircraft systems.
As in I've seen pilots unintentionally hanging from their aircraft -- not
a pretty sight mind you.
>I have never been on an airplane where they have taken
>off and landed with the TVs running.
Many airlines play the nose camera video during takeoff and landing.
Last weekend I went on a flight with JAL when they had the nose camera
video working.
It just depends on which airline you fly with.
>In fact, the last time we flew, they cut off the film
>just 5 minutes before the end, and we never did see how
>the film ended! (We actually landed about 30 min. later!)
The crew is preparing the passenger section for landing (Seats in their
upright position, tray tables stowed, etc.)
As for the landing delay, sometimes when on approach, the landing can be
delayed for a variety of reasons of which the pilots do not know until it
happens. You didn't mention whether this occurred in good or bad
weather, so I just listed a variety of reasons without regard to this.
For example, maybe they are cleared for the ILS RWY 29 R and the winds
shift above save levels and the landing changes to ILS RWY 36. A change
such as this requires extensive sequencing coordination.
Or due to aircraft landing sequencing, your aircraft is required to hold,
prior to being released for approach. In this case many times ATC will
run a stack. You enter at the top and exit from the bottom.
Or the airport is currently under minimums, which means that the aircraft
while it can shoot the approach, there is a high probability that it will
not breakout in order to land. So the aircraft is holding awaiting for a
weather window in which they have a better chance of breaking out and
landing vice going to an alternate airport.
Or another aircraft has an emergency, such as low fuel, and is brought in
on priority over other aircraft. Or the aircraft that you are on has
developed a problem and the pilots want to determine the extent of the
problem before they begin the landing sequence.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, that there are many reasons why an
unexpected delay of 30 minutes can happen.
Unfortunately, sometimes the flight crew goes about their landing
preparation duties only to end up having to wait to land when one of
these unexpect events occurs.
Sushi
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