Hilarious Amount Of Men Think They Could Land A Plane In An Emergency: SURVEY

Think you could land a plane in the event of an emergency?

You're definitely not alone if you think you have the guts to pull it off. While casually scrolling through the internet today, I saw a CNN article published Wednesday morning about a YouGov survey asking people if they could land a plane if they had to.

Now, you're probably thinking maybe a quarter of respondents think they could. Perhaps less. Nope. Forty six percent of male respondents believe they could pull it off compared to just 20% of women.

To the surprise of literally nobody, men between the ages of 18 and 44 come in at 42% having confidence. The confidence drops off to a staggering degree once people get a bit older.

A stock photo os a wide body, commercial cargo airplane taxiing out for departure from an airport in India

Could the average man land a plane?

However, CNN is far less confident the landing would go smoothly. The outlet wrote:

To land successfully, a pilot must keep an appropriate speed while simultaneously managing gear and flap configuration, adhering to air traffic regulations, communicating with air traffic control and completing a number of paper and digital checklists.
Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power and adjust the rate of descent – ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway.
On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes.

Let's all be honest with each other on this issue. Every man on the planet has been on a plane, the mind starts racing and all of a sudden, you find yourself wondering if the plane got hijacked if you could put the bird down.

I always find myself coming to the conclusion of, yes, without a doubt I could land the plane. However, believing it and doing it are two different things.

I was in a small plane several years back flying to an undisclosed location on the eastern seaboard facing the reality I would likely have to fly the thing if the pilot went down for any reason. Everything's a lot more daunting once you're in the seat with your hands on the control.

A luxury private jet overflying cloudy skies at sunset

There's just nothing more masculine or alpha than daydreaming about hostage situations, landing planes and battling bad guys in the sky. It just gets the blood pumping.

Having said that, I truly have no idea how anyone would actually perform. I assume (never smart to do) that I'd be able to get on the radio, call for help and get someone to walk me through the situation. However, I'm also fully aware it might not be that easy at all.

Would we do laps to burn off as much fuel as possible? What if there's any error? I just don't know, but I certainly want to believe I'd land the plane and then be treated to a lot of free beer.

Could you land a plane in an emergency? (Credit: Getty Images)

Could you land a plane? Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. Have you ever done it? Then definitely hit me up.

P.S.: A flight attendant once asked me if I could run the emergency exit. I told her there's no safer plane in the sky than the one I'm in. She didn't laugh at all. I found it hilarious. My humor might not be for everyone.