Word: jetted
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...PILOTS. The men who occupy the left?or captain's ?seat of jet airliners operated by the world's major carriers are without question superb flyers. They have risen to the top of their profession through a system designed to weed out the incompetent. In the U.S., typically, the captain of a 747 is in his mid-50s, and has been flying for 30 years or longer. He may have joined his airline in his early 30s and served as a co-pilot for seven years or more before making captain...
Whatever his rank, the training never stops. He is constantly practicing instrument landings and emergency procedures, both in the cockpit of a jet and in remarkably realistic flight simulators. Twice a year, the FAA requires the airline to check out his proficiency. In addition, an FAA inspector?completely unannounced?may show up just before takeoff, occupy the jump seat in the cockpit?and "lift" (start revocation proceedings) the captain's license on the spot if he detects a major failing during the flight...
Every six months the pilot must pass a demanding FAA physical, and every year the company also looks him over. His job is one of the few in which advancing age is considered an asset, for it means he has been in charge of a jet for a reassuring length of time. A 747 captain often has 20,000 or more hours of flight experience. He flies no more than 65 to 70 hours a month and is paid as much as $100,000 a year. It is safe to say that few people riding behind him in the passenger...
...CONTROLLERS. From the moment he asks permission to nose his jet away from the ramp, the pilot?however silvery his hair and steady his hand?must work in close partnership with an individual who is usually a decade or two his junior and may be as outwardly nervous as the pilot is calm. As a group, air controllers are intense and self-confident men (their ranks include few women) who are polished professionals. Day after day, unheard by the passengers riding in the sky, controllers spot pilots who have strayed into trouble and direct them to safety. A disaster could...
When the controller in the tower is sure that the runway is safe, he gives the command to go: "Eastern 158, cleared for takeoff." Soon after the jet leaves the ground, another technician in the station, known as departure control, picks up the jet on radar and guides it out of the general area of the airport. Next, a controller in one of the 20 air-route traffic control centers that blanket the country takes over responsibility, monitors the jet through his section of the sky, and then hands it on to the adjoining control center...