What's the story behind the standard flying procedure of flying west if over land and east if over sea?

Question

i think pilots are suppose to use this rule when they get lost.

Answer 1

Standard flying procedure? That's just plain nuts. Jeez.

Answer 2

There is no such procedure.  Pilots generally try to fly in the direction of their destinations.  It would make little sense to doggedly fly west if your destination were to the east, and vice versa, no matter what might be below the aircraft (land or sea).

Even if a pilot is lost, there's nothing to be gained by this rule, as a suitable airport might be in just about any direction.  He would turn towards land if over the sea, but that's about it.

Answer 3

Out here on the West Coast, I guess that means I'd start out over land and hence fly west. That would soon put me over water, so I'd turn around and fly east to land and then turn around and fly west again, etc. You might want to read up on Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, so nicknamed when he flew from Brooklyn to Ireland on a flight that was supposed to be from Brooklyn to Long Beach, CA.

Answer 4

Never heard that one.  The direction you fly if you are lost depends on where you were the last time you knew where you were and what you know about the terrain.

There are rules assigning VFR and IFR altitudes for aircraft flying easterly and westerly headings.

And Paul Revere used one lantern to indicate the British were coming by land and two if by sea.  That's the closest I have ever heard to what you describe.  In 40 years of flying.

===EDIT===

We have no idea where "howstuffworks" got that idea, but it is not true.  Pay it no attention.