People who clap when the plane lands

[EastEnder]

Landing a plane is an art form.
Done well, you barely feel it as the wheels caress the tarmac before gently increasing the pressure.
Other times, it's 'boof, oops, boof, nearly got it, boof, there we are'.

I would still maintain that what you're describing is the difference between a good landing and a poor landing.
A good landing means the pilots are doing their jobs as expected, not that they've done anything particularly noteworthy.
If the landing conditions are especially challenging - say stormy, wind shear, torrential rain, etc - and the pilots still land in a safe & stable fashion, then praise may indeed be warranted.
If it's a nice sunny day with no wind or rain, and they got a lovely long runway to land their highly sophisticated, highly automated plane on, and they touch down dead centre of the runway with barely the most imperceptible jolt, I am not going to applaud them. They've done exactly what I would've expected them to do. Landing a safe plane in safe conditions on a safe runway. What's the world coming to when people feel the need to congratulate someone for doing exactly what they're paid to do!

 

[Sirena]

On Jamaican flights they normally clap at the end; but the whole flight is usually quite jolly anyway...

 

[QueenOfGoths]

There was applause last week when the flight from Belfast landed which was a bit odd as it was a pretty textbook landing I thought, however, I can't say it annoys me.

People getting up and taking things out of the locker so they fall on my head before the plane has stopped/the seatbeat light goes off annoys me more

 

[lizzieloo]

A bit of spontaneous collective joy pisses off some people, others like to at them. IMO it's not the clappers with the problem

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

Fucking swedes do it.

Got the clap off a swede once too.

Fucking swedes.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

You don't think they are actually clapping the pilot do you? It's an expression of celebration about arriving at your destination / starting your holiday etc etc .

The pilots normally stand outside the cockpit at the end of the flight and people say thank you then.

tbf that's not been my impression from Latin America. It's more an expression of relief that you've survived the flight.

 

[Fez909]

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/people-who-starts-threads-that-begin-people-who.321699/

 

[ffsear]

What's the world coming to when people feel the need to congratulate someone for doing exactly what they're paid to do!

lol, that comment reminded me of this from Chris Rocks live stand up show.

 

[dylanredefined]

Clapping when the plane lands is a bit like saying "Well done Mr Pilot! You managed to NOT crash!! YAY!!!"

Seemingly unlike some people, my expectation is that the plane will land safely because the pilots are doing their jobs. Clapping someone for not screwing up is silly & patronising.

Heard it done ironically on a military plane after a particulary heavy landing.

Not been on a plane for a few years. Do they still do a whip round for the driver?

Seen someone run back to a military helicopter to give the pilot a fiver. Well they are nicknamed cabs.

 

[ffsear]

I miss the days when the captain would walk down the isle of the plane and basically introduce himself to everyone.

"I'm kind of a big deal"

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I miss the days when the captain would walk down the isle of the plane and basically introduce himself to everyone.

"I'm kind of a big deal"

Back in the Soviet Union days, Aeroflot pilots were known to share a drink with the passengers before take-off.

 

[ffsear]

Anyone ever fly to Hong Kongs old Kai Tak airport? That ones worth worth a clap

 

[Orang Utan]

I've been on quite a few rough flights where you're buffeted about quite a bit. I've gone along with the applause out of relief. I never know whether to be scared or not in these situations!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The impression I got when people clapped, was that they were clapping out of relief for being back alive on solid ground again, as God had intended them to be.

 

[Riklet]

Spanish people do it quite a lot. I think it is ok, sweet ocasionally.

Better than miserable brits sitting and grumbling, tugging at their shifted underwear and folding up their papers.

 

[EastEnder]

Better than miserable brits sitting and grumbling, tugging at their shifted underwear and folding up their papers.

What could be more quintessentially British than looking miserable & grumbling quietly?

I'll leave all the unnecessary clapping & other such vulgar displays of exuberance to Johnny Foreigner!

 

[littlebabyjesus]

*adjusts pants*

 

[SpookyFrank]

Landing a plane is an art form.

Done well, you barely feel it as the wheels caress the tarmac before gently increasing the pressure.

Other times, it's 'boof, oops, boof, nearly got it, boof, there we are'.

Yes but I doubt the kind of simpleton who would applaud a pilot for landing in one piece would know the difference.

Nor would most passengers have any clue how easy the landing had been, what with visibility and wind direction and such.

 

[Orang Utan]

*adjusts pants*

I always sniff my armpits as well

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Flying is one of the wonders of the modern age. I understand the physics of it pretty well, but I'm still always slightly amazed every time I'm up there.

*applauds like a simpleton*

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Mind you, don't adjust your pants as you're getting off the plane. They look out for it and you'll get searched at customs. You may end up with a torch up your bum.

 

[geminisnake]

I have never experienced the passengers clapping on landing. Even the time I thought we were going to end up in the Thames. I think everyone was just most relieved that we didn't,m the guy across the aisle from me said he was getting the train home I was concerned because even the flight ladies looked a bit scared.

 

[Cheesypoof]

I don't personally clap...well thats a lie, I usually do on the plane at Christmas (along with other drunken, excited revellers )

This is because the journey from London to Dublin is sometimes a bit chaotic at that time of year, it might be quite close to Christmas, and you really want to get home!!

 

[tony.c]

Not been on a plane for a few years. Do they still do a whip round for the driver?

Only time I ever heard it happen was on a flight to Canada in 1979 iirc. In those days there weren't inflight entertainment screens but you got free unlimited booze all the way through a 9 hour flight. There wasn't much to do except drink. That magnified by the altitude meant that everyone was pissed by the time we arrived, and there was clapping and cheering on landing. They had a line of wheelchairs waiting when we arrived for those who were too paralytic to walk.
And one guy actually did go round with a sick bag saying 'whip round for the driver'.

 

[skyscraper101]

They had a line of wheelchairs waiting when we arrived for those who were too paralytic to walk.
And one guy did go round with a sick bag saying 'whip round for the driver'.

Truly the golden age of travel.

 

[Poot]

I think most of you are very miserable.

"Yay! We got here in one piece!"
"Yay, we're on holiday!"

Shared moment with your fellow man, innit.

No, you really don't want to end up sitting next to me on a plane

 

[twistedAM]

I was on a flight to Dublin once and a fair lot of the passengers were a church party from the backwoods. They clapped.
I also did it myself once. I was the only passenger in a plane the size of a Ford Ka which flew over some serious fuckoff mountains in Alaska during a storm. I think the pilot joined in. Hairy shit,

 

[Corax]

Never even heard of this. I guess it would make sense if it was in really difficult conditions or something. But generally I approach flights with the expectation that I'm not paying to hurtle in to the side of a mountain and suffer a long slow death after eating my fellow passengers.

 

[tony.c]

I did feel like clapping on my last flight back to UK, after we went through quite bad turbulence for about 30 minutes and the plane was jumping up and down and shuddering so badly I thought the wings might fall off. And it was the same type of plane used by Malaysian Airways which had disappeared a couple of days earlier.

 

[Red Cat]

Sometimes it just feels good to be thankful, eh? Life can be well shit.