Plane Stopped in Midair

Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

Some details: the temperature was about 50 degrees F, the sky was mostly
clear, and the time was around 0645. I was traveling by car at about 40
MPH on a street that is parallel to a regular flight path. From this
street it's common to see 3 or 4 planes per minute either climbing or
descending; the airport is about a mile or two away from this particular
street.

As I was moving relatively slowly compared to the how fast the jet
should have been moving, I noticed that I was gaining on it. I quickly
eyeballed the area for tall buildings and other geographical reference
points so I could be sure that I had a good perspective and wasn't just
"seeing things". The object was either not moving or it was moving
*very* slowly, and it was not a helicopter. For a few seconds I was
stopped at an intersection looking at this hanging plane and at the
people in the other cars around me. No one else seemed to be paying any
attention to it besides me.

The main reason this bothered me so much is because had the plane
fallen, it would have landed less than a half mile from where I and
about 30 other running cars were, in addition to several warehouse-type
buildings and auto repair garages, plus a 6 or 8 lane freeway filled
with morning traffic. Since the plane had just taken off and was
probably full of fuel, and was still low enough for its markings to be
readable from the ground, the crash probably would have been
extraordinarily disastrous.

I've done a lot of Googling to try to get an understanding of what I saw
and really haven't learned anything meaningful. I'm hoping someone here
can explain how a "regular" jet--versus a specialized military jet--can
apparently stop in midair and not drop from the sky. As a daily traveler
near a major metro airport, I'd really like to be reassured that this is
not a common occurrence.

Debbie

DM wrote in
:

Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

Some details: the temperature was about 50 degrees F, the sky was
mostly clear, and the time was around 0645. I was traveling by car at
about 40 MPH on a street that is parallel to a regular flight path.
From this street it's common to see 3 or 4 planes per minute either
climbing or descending; the airport is about a mile or two away from
this particular street.

As I was moving relatively slowly compared to the how fast the jet
should have been moving, I noticed that I was gaining on it. I quickly
eyeballed the area for tall buildings and other geographical reference
points so I could be sure that I had a good perspective and wasn't
just "seeing things". The object was either not moving or it was
moving *very* slowly, and it was not a helicopter. For a few seconds I
was stopped at an intersection looking at this hanging plane and at
the people in the other cars around me. No one else seemed to be
paying any attention to it besides me.

The main reason this bothered me so much is because had the plane
fallen, it would have landed less than a half mile from where I and
about 30 other running cars were, in addition to several
warehouse-type buildings and auto repair garages, plus a 6 or 8 lane
freeway filled with morning traffic. Since the plane had just taken
off and was probably full of fuel, and was still low enough for its
markings to be readable from the ground, the crash probably would have
been extraordinarily disastrous.

I've done a lot of Googling to try to get an understanding of what I
saw and really haven't learned anything meaningful. I'm hoping someone
here can explain how a "regular" jet--versus a specialized military
jet--can apparently stop in midair and not drop from the sky. As a
daily traveler near a major metro airport, I'd really like to be
reassured that this is not a common occurrence.

Debbie



It is just your perception, and the relative size of the plane, verses
the size your brain thinks it "out to be". The plane was likely also
either angled at something less than a 45degree angle either toward you,
or awayfrom you making it difficult to percieve movement.

It was not hovering or anything like it.

BeaglePig

In article , BeaglePig wrote:
It is just your perception, and the relative size of the plane, verses
the size your brain thinks it "out to be". The plane was likely also
either angled at something less than a 45degree angle either toward you,
or awayfrom you making it difficult to percieve movement.

Especially the giant Antanovs - they look like they are barely moving on
approach, despite really moving at 150 knots or so. By comparison,
a C140 approaching at 55 knots looks like it's just racing along.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:
Especially the giant Antanovs - they look like they are barely moving on
approach, despite really moving at 150 knots or so. By comparison,
a C140 approaching at 55 knots looks like it's just racing along.

I remember reading something about this. The conclusion was that we
perceive speed as a function of aircraft lengths per second. So a large
jet, such as a 747, seems to be crawling, while a smaller aircraft, such
as a Lear, will seem to be moving much faster while actually at the same
speed. Recalculate their speed in terms of aircraft lengths per second,
and you can see the correlation, since a 747 is several Lears long.

I would imagine you'd experience the same thing if you were to compare
the visual perception of the speeds of an Amtrak train and a fast car
travelling at the same rate.

- Nathan

Nathan Gilliatt wrote:
In article ,
Dylan Smith wrote:

Especially the giant Antanovs - they look like they are barely moving on
approach, despite really moving at 150 knots or so. By comparison,
a C140 approaching at 55 knots looks like it's just racing along.


I remember reading something about this. The conclusion was that we
perceive speed as a function of aircraft lengths per second. So a large
jet, such as a 747, seems to be crawling, while a smaller aircraft, such
as a Lear, will seem to be moving much faster while actually at the same
speed. Recalculate their speed in terms of aircraft lengths per second,
and you can see the correlation, since a 747 is several Lears long.

I would imagine you'd experience the same thing if you were to compare
the visual perception of the speeds of an Amtrak train and a fast car
travelling at the same rate.

- Nathan

The vehicle length per second is often cited as a reason of why
motorcycle racing is so exciting to watch. The bikes are tiny in
comparison to cars, so they look like they're going even faster than a
car going the same speed. It is quite thrilling to see these racers
pushing the edge while scraping the ground with their knee pucks!

-Aviv

DM writes:
Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

Some details: the temperature was about 50 degrees F, the sky was
mostly clear, and the time was around 0645. I was traveling by car at
about 40 MPH on a street that is parallel to a regular flight
path. From this street it's common to see 3 or 4 planes per minute
either climbing or descending; the airport is about a mile or two away
from this particular street.

One detail you left out -- how windy was it? I'm going to guess it
was a really windy day. If the plane was taking off into a strong
headwind then it would not have to go nearly as fast (relative to the
ground) to stay in the air. The only thing the plane cares about is
how fast it is going relative to the wind (airspeed). You may have
seen a plane which was travelling at a much slower groundspeed than
you are used to seeing, and thought it was almost stopped as a result.

Also, if seems to be windy at ground level where you are, it may be
much windier once you get up above any trees/buildings/etc which only
slow the wind down.

Chris
--
Chris Colohan Email: PGP: finger
Web: www.colohan.com Phone: (412)268-4751

Christopher Brian Colohan wrote:
DM writes:

Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash. There's been nothing
about it in the local news but I've still been very concerned. Could
someone here explain how such a thing is possible?

Some details: the temperature was about 50 degrees F, the sky was
mostly clear, and the time was around 0645. I was traveling by car at
about 40 MPH on a street that is parallel to a regular flight
path. From this street it's common to see 3 or 4 planes per minute
either climbing or descending; the airport is about a mile or two away
from this particular street.


One detail you left out -- how windy was it? I'm going to guess it
was a really windy day. If the plane was taking off into a strong
headwind then it would not have to go nearly as fast (relative to the
ground) to stay in the air. The only thing the plane cares about is
how fast it is going relative to the wind (airspeed). You may have
seen a plane which was travelling at a much slower groundspeed than
you are used to seeing, and thought it was almost stopped as a result.

Also, if seems to be windy at ground level where you are, it may be
much windier once you get up above any trees/buildings/etc which only
slow the wind down.

Chris

interesting, but no, it wasn't particularly windy on the ground.

Debbie

DM wrote:

interesting, but no, it wasn't particularly windy on the ground.

I have the winds aloft forecast for yesterday morning. Where was this?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

G.R. Patterson III wrote:


DM wrote:

interesting, but no, it wasn't particularly windy on the ground.


I have the winds aloft forecast for yesterday morning. Where was this?

Phoenix

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

Debbie

DM wrote:

Phoenix

So much for that idea. Winds at 5,000' above sea level were out of the northwest at 5
knots. At 10,000' they were out of the west at 20 knots. It's unlikely that a 20 knot
headwind made much difference in the appearance of the speed of a large plane.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.