by Olivier Thomas

Created on: July 31, 2008

I decided to join Helium because I found it interesting to share my knowledge on various subjects. The subject that is proposed and called "Critical phases of flight" is of particular interest to me as I have a passion for aviation, especially commercial aviation. Furthermore, I am a private pilot license holder and I have practiced flight simulation since January 2000. This is the most important dream of my life I have ever realized. Anyway, let us go back to the subject.

During a flight, there are two critical phases. The first is the take-off, the second one being the landing. At that time, the airplane is vulnerable. Actually, different situations may put the airplane in danger and cause a disaster. I am going to talk about the take- off phase first; then about the landing phase, which is the last stage that the pilot would perform before taxiing.
After taxiing the aircraft to the runway threshold, the pilot must take off. He would review all the checklists before take-off. Moreover, passengers have to be aware that for every take-off, crew members take into account the event of an engine failure. Therefore, the pilot managed all aspects of this part of the flight in order to make the right decision at the right time.
Once the pilot is ready, take-off power is set, all parameters monitored and the plane gathers speed. As you certainly know, an airplane needs speed to fly. At this stage of the rolling, speed is very important. The pilot or the copilot -depending on who is pilot flying- will now monitored closely three speeds. In aviation, speed is defined as "V speed" which stands for "Velocity". V1 is the takeoff decision speed, the speed at which the pilot must carry on the rolling until the rotation (too fast, not enough runway length left). Should an engine failure occur after V1, the pilot has no choice but to lift off. The next important speed is called Vr, the rotation speed. Slowly but firmly, the pilot pulls the yoke to lift the nose up. If an engine has failed, a mayday call has to be made followed by an emergency landing. The third speed is V2, which is the takeoff safety speed, the speed the airplane can be flown with an engine failure.
As you can see, pilots perform take-off with great seriousness. Do not forget that the airplane needs a maximum speed to fly and during take-off, engines are running at full speed.
Once in flight at cruise speed and high altitude, there are no really dangers; however some exist. Let us see now the most interesting

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