A
pilot
on
TikTok
has explained what all the “dings” mean when your
plane
is taking off and landing in a
viral
video
.
Peter Cappio, a
New York City
-based pilot with
the handle @pilotpete.fly
, drew more than 2.1 million views of his video within five days, in which he said that the dings are, “nothing to be scared of,” and are, “very, very normal procedures on most every
airline
.”
‘Sterile cockpit’
According to Cappio, the dings happen when pilots are climbing through or descending through 10,000 feet (3,048 meters).
For pilots, the 10,000-foot marker is an important one.
“10,000 feet is a significant altitude in the
aviation
world and signifies when you’re in and out of sterile cockpit,” Cappio said.
“Sterile cockpit is when the pilots are only supposed to concentrate on the particular
flight
and only conversations that are required for the flight, meaning no small talk, no looking out the window, no doing anything, but focusing on the task at hand.”
The dings are for
flight attendants
, letting them know when they need to handle things on their own for a bit.
Cappio continued: “If there’s something that happens in the cabin that they need to alert the pilots on, for example, if someone takes out a
vape
or something like that, is it critical for them to know at that time?”
‘Critical phase of the flight’
According to Cappio, pilots are “super busy” with air traffic control procedures at the time.
“It’s a critical phase of flight,” he said, “So they double-ding the flight attendants, let them know, ‘Hey, we’re no longer in sterile.
“If you need to call us to just say hi, or check up on us, see if we want
coffee
or
snacks
, or let us know that the person in 15B
smells
, whatever it may be, that’s the time to do it.
“But not before those double chimes and not after those double chimes when we’re coming into landing.”
‘Fear of the unknown’
In an email to
Vmeetsolutions
, Cappio said people generally keep their concerns about
flying
to themselves but, ”
media
coverage,
social media
[and]
fear
of the unknown,” all play a role.
“People don’t know/understand flying, planes [and] pilots, so that scares them,” he added.
Cappio said he has started a counseling service where
passengers
can book time with him and talk about their concerns about an upcoming flight.
“Flying is safe and if they want a more behind the scenes look to see what it’s like so it’s less scary, follow me,” he said.
‘We chill’
TikTok
users generally appreciated the insights, amid more than 1,200 comments.
“I always thought it was a notification that snacks are coming soon,” one person quipped, to which Cappio responded: “That too!”
“My
anxiety
is maxed out until I hear those first two dings and then I immediately relax,” an individual shared.
“I like knowing the flight attendants are moving around and you turned on the
WiFi
—it gives ‘we chill’ vibes.”
Other users, however, had some advice for pilots.
An
air traveler
wondered: “Do pilots know that when they speak to us, their mic is often turned down too low and we can’t hear them?”
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