Important signs at the airport that pilots look out for when landing planes

LANDING a plane on a runway is one of the most difficult aspects of a pilot’s job.

But there are a number of signs and systems in place to help them bring the aircraft safely back down to earth.

3

Among those are the markings on the airport runway, which help to show the pilot where they should be aiming when coming in to land.

The markings also provide other information about where the plane can, and in some instances can’t, be.

An article in Interesting Engineering revealed some of the most important ones for pilots to pay attention to.

While the markings would usually only be visible for pilots at the front of the plane, passengers in an aircraft circling the airport might be able to catch of glimpse next time they fly.

Touchdown zone

Arguably the most important for the pilot when landing a plane is the aptly named “touchdown zone” which shows where the pilot should be aiming when completing a journey.

The zone is marked out by a series of two vertical lines placed either side of the centre of the runway, spaced out at 150 metre intervals.

In among the touchdown zone will be two bigger and thicker lines, which are known as the “aiming point”.

This is where pilots should be looking to make their contact with the runway, giving them more than enough time to safely bring the plane to a halt after touching down.

3

Threshold

A series of white vertical lines, similar to a barcode are painted at the start of the runway, and are used to indicate the “threshold”.

This indicates where the runway properly begins and is where a plane will be positioned prior to take off.

For any pilots coming in to land, this shows them the starting point of where it is safe for the plane to touch down.

Meanwhile, this pilot explained how you could land a plane in an emergency.

Another pilot revealed more important safety procedures for landing aircraft.

3