Airline pilot reveals the meanings of 11 code words passengers don't understand

For most of us, flying is still an inherently mysterious activity. 

To shed some light on the world of commercial air travel, Business Insider turned to Patrick Smith, an author and airline pilot, for some answers. 

Smith, who is the author of Cockpit Confidential, created a glossary of commonly misunderstood airline jargon that can be found on website, Ask the Pilot.

According to Smith, some of the terminology is highly technology with others are quite humorous and even a bit absurd.

Here are a selection of these entries.

Doors to arrival and crosscheck

Hollis Johnson

Used in a sample sentence: "Flight attendants, doors to arrival and crosscheck."

Definition: The announcement, usually made by the lead flight attendant as the plane is approaching the gate, is to verify that the emergency escape slides attached to each door have been disarmed — otherwise the slide will deploy automatically as soon as the door is opened. 

 

All-call

Wikimedia Commons

Used in a sample sentence: "Flight attendants, doors to arrival, crosscheck and all-call."

Definition: According to Smith, all-call is usually part of the door arming/disarming procedure. "This is a request that each flight attendant report via intercom from his or her station — a sort of flight attendant conference call," he wrote.

Holding pattern

Boeing

Definition: "A racetrack-shaped course flown during weather or traffic delays," Smith wrote. "Published holding patterns are depicted on aeronautical charts, but one can be improvised almost anywhere."

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