Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
Who among us hasn't dreamed of becoming a pilot someday, or pictured themselves wearing that beautiful blue uniform, that sharp round cap, and those striking black sunglasses that make up a pilot's outfit? If I asked you who the first pilot in history was, you might tell me it was the "Wright brothers," who tested flight in 1902 using the glider they'd invented in 1899. But did you know that about a thousand years before that experiment, a Muslim scientist recorded the first attempt at flight in history? In the year 852 CE, the Muslim scholar Abbas ibn Firnas, who lived in Andalusia, climbed to the top of a mountain and jumped off wearing a flying device made of feathers and two large wings, gliding for about ten minutes before falling and getting injured during landing, because he'd overlooked the importance of a tail at that stage. Attempts at flight continued throughout history until the engine-powered airplane was invented in 1903, after which the pilot profession we know today emerged, giving rise to fighter jet pilots, passenger plane pilots, and others. In the lines ahead, we'll get to know the nature of the piloting profession in more detail.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor.
- Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
- Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings.
- Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
- Steer aircraft along planned routes, using autopilot and flight management computers.
- Monitor gauges, warning devices, and control panels to verify aircraft performance and to regulate engine speed.
- Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
- Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists.
- Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
- Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions.
- Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
- Choose routes, altitudes, and speeds that will provide the fastest, safest, and smoothest flights.
- Direct activities of aircraft crews during flights.
- Brief crews about flight details, such as destinations, duties, and responsibilities.
- Record in log books information, such as flight times, distances flown, and fuel consumption.
- Make announcements regarding flights, using public address systems.
- Instruct other pilots and student pilots in aircraft operations and the principles of flight.