With so many planes flying over the u.s at this moment how are they not running into each other??

Question

Im watching cnn and they showed that cool visual of how many planes are actually in the sky at the moment and 85% seemed to be concentrated in the east coast at this time and it just looked so dense, its mind blowing that the planes aren't colliding. Must be a pretty good radar system I guess but still I cant help but wonder how they maneuver so many at once and make sure each has a specific trajectory to avoid accidents.

Answer 1

Onboard radar, and collision avoidance systems are among the primary reasons.

However, properly staffed ATC (air traffic control) centres, and rigid traffic control patterns are the major reasons for collision avoidance.

While I would love to say that mid-air collisions are exceptionally rare, they are not...however, most are between minimally instrumented aircraft, and those that are not tend to be because the pilot(s) in one or both fail to follow the directions provided by their equipment. In any case, they are rare enough to be classifiable as a statistical anomaly. You are more likely to die from a trip and fall accident at home than a collision between large modern aircraft in the sky.

Please also remember that the graphic exaggerates the issue quite badly. The average jumbo is only about 200-300 feet long, with a wingspan slightly shorter. Until they come withing a few miles of an airport, there is little to no danger, since aircraft all fly at different levels. Local traffic is generally below 10000ft, regional traffic above that, and transcontinental is 30000+. Even considering the normal 2km wide and 2000 foot tall cylinder of "protected airspace" assigned to each cruising aircraft, that is still a VERY small piece of the sky. Add that all commercial aircraft (and several of the higher-end civilian models) are also continuously "squawking" (transmitting) their identification (including altitude, speed, and direction of travel). That means that the most dangerous time for any aircraft is the transition times...take-off and landing.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

The graphic you saw used symbols that are not to scale, so they seem to fill the whole sky.  In reality, there are hundreds of cubic miles of airspace for each airplane.

The flights are all keeping a steady lookout for each other, and Air Traffic Control provides separation services for all flights.

So they never really come very close to each other.

Answer 3

the only magic involved in this is called AFM

Air

Flow

Management

Answer 4

watch the movie Pushing Tin

Answer 5

Air traffic control...flight plan requirement...and the "roads" of the air are mapped out as well....there are different altitudes allowed for diferent directions of air space...so as long as all of these factors are followed it is very safe..and occasionally equipment fails or a mistake is made and the do collide....two collided last month not far from here and killed everyone on both air craft..the smaller plane being flown by a begginer pilot with his instructor and a few others-vs.-commercial airline

Answer 6

Safe separation of civilian aircraft in the ATC system (which are most assuredly not equipped with radar capable of detecting and displaying other aircraft) begins with this quote from FAA order 7110.65:

"2-1-1. ATC SERVICE

The primary purpose of the ATC system is to prevent a collision between aircraft operating in the system and to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide support for National Security and Homeland Defense."

The hows, whys, and whens of this could, and in fact does, fill a book.  Simply placing aircraft on airways does not always guarantee separation, nor does the fact that aircraft operate a different altitudes, since they must climb or descend through traffic to reach their cruising altitude.

Thus, safe separation largely comes down to the controller monitoring traffic and providing control instructions to ensure that aircraft do not come within less than minimum distances both vertically and laterally.

On the other hand, many aircraft operate under what is known as VFR or visual flight rules in which the pilots are expected to see and avoid traffic and are responsible for their own separation.

Airspace restrictions are in place to ensure that in areas of high density traffic, even VFR aircraft are under the control of the ATC system or that all aircraft are operating IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) and are under positive control.

I've intentionally couched this response in the broadest of terms, and often happens in this forum, others may take parts of this and elaborate.

Answer 7

Planes have designated flight paths assign by air traffic controls which monitors all the flight paths using radar etc. and ensures that they do not intercept with one another, planes are also equip with radar censors so that they can avoid running into each other.

Answer 8

The aircraft are assigned at different flight altitudes. you know like a steps of a ladder the first to land is at the bottom rung and so on.

Answer 9

They have radars and they make sure they don't hit each other.

Answer 10

Aside from good radar, the pilots are also probably very well trained

Answer 11

Well thats just a cool visual....

Aircraft are controlled in different airspace by ATC (Air Traffic Control). Aircraft follow airways (the roads of the sky), and are always sperated by 1,000 ft.

Answer 12

control tower. radar.

Answer 13

they are dense because your scale is so big. decrease it and you will see the separation.

Answer 14

They rarely get within a thousand feet of each other. How close is the car next to you on the freeway.

Answer 15

Lots of near-hits.