Can a commercial airplane stop in mid-air?

Question

I fly quite a bit for my company and I have come into some situations that have wracked my nerves. But flying in from San Fransico into JFK one night, the initial approach was quite bumpy and it appeared to me that they pulled back on the engines and than everything went very quiet. (Others stated the same thing so I wasn't imagining it..lol) and it felt as though we stopped in midair.

It made me very nervous and also curious.

Answer 1

Your imagination. Planes cannot stop in the air.

Answer 2

a plane stopping in mid air is not possible..sometimes when it feels like a plane is pulling back it means you are beginning your decsent...a pilot would never shut down all engines while in the air...you wouldnt be alive to tell your story if that happened anyway!!

Answer 3

Airplanes fly because of lift generated by air passing by the wings. If the plane stopped, there would be no lift and the plane would simply fall out of the sky (except for specialized military jets like the Harrier, which have a special nozzle that can be directed downward). Even slowing down too much will have the same effect. The pilot must maintain a minimum speed, known as the stall speed, to keep the plane flying.

There is nothing to be nervous about. It is perfectly normal for the pilot to reduce engine power during landing. Aircraft cannot safely land at cruising speed. They must slow down to a safe speed. The pilot will also deploy the aircraft's flaps. These are panels on the wings that extend outward and increase aerodynamic drag, which also slows down the aircraft. The deployment of the flaps sometimes gives the sensation that the plane is slowing down dramatically and almost coming to a stop. However, it is an illusion. Depending on the aircraft type, you may still be flying at 180 mph even as it feels like you are "stopping".

Answer 4

They likely did pull back on the engines (i.e. decrease the throttle).  But the plane didn't stop - it just slowed down.  Airplanes can't stop in mid-air.

Well, except for the Harrier, which is a military jet.  It can turn its engines so they're pointing straight up-and-down, and hover like that.

Answer 5

Geographically, yes the plane can stop in mid-air. If the head wind is enough to keep the plane off the ground (let's say 200 knots for a 747) then the planes engines could put out enough thrust for 200 knots and achieve a GROUND speed of zero - but still be perfectly safe and technically flying. 200 knots is a pretty strong headwind though so the likelihood of a pilot getting into that situation is pretty remote.

When the engines go quiet, they aren't actually dead, just relatively quiet compared to the roar of normal flight thrust. If the engines really did go dead then the plane just turns into a glider and can still land perfectly safely. Don't worry about it!

Answer 6

No it cant but it seem like it does yes.

Take care