Airborne
Dallas Campbell and Dr Hannah Fry explore how people are kept safe between take-off and landing. Dallas learns how pilots find their way across the sky at night.
There are around a million people airborne at any one time and keeping that number of people safely aloft depends on complex global networks and astonishing technology that stretches our ingenuity to the absolute limit.
In this programme, science broadcaster Dallas Campbell and Dr Hannah Fry explore just what it takes to keep this city in the sky safe between take-off and landing. Dallas discovers how pilots find their way across thousands of miles of sky in the dead of night. Hannah meets the air traffic controllers who are responsible for the busiest airspace in the world - over Atlanta in south east America - and reveals just what is involved in co-ordinating the 100,000 flights that cross the globe every day, while avoiding collisions.
And it is not all about the planes themselves - whether it is the care of 64 horses that regularly fly around the globe to compete in showjumping competitions or inflight medical advice from ER doctors in Phoenix for passengers who fall ill at 35,000 feet. You will never look at your time aloft in the same way again.
Last on
Clips
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The jetmen who who fly like planes over the deserts of Dubai
Duration: 00:54
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What happens if you fall ill at 35,000ft?
Duration: 01:38
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Dallas Campbell |
Presenter | Hannah Fry |
Producer | Russell Leven |
Producer | Matt Barrett |
Director | Russell Leven |
Director | Matt Barrett |
Broadcasts
- Sun 12 Jun 2016 21:00
- Tue 14 Jun 2016 00:15Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Northern Ireland & Scotland
- Tue 14 Jun 2016 01:10Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Wed 29 Jun 2016 02:50
- Sun 29 Jan 2017 19:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland & Wales
- Sun 5 Feb 2017 19:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Wales
- Thu 7 Jun 2018 21:00
- Fri 8 Jun 2018 02:30
- Sat 9 Feb 2019 16:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Wales & Wales HD only
- Sat 9 Feb 2019 17:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Wales
- Tue 28 Apr 2020 09:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Sat 14 Sep 2024 10:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
Discover interesting facts about Aeroplane Design and Engineering with The Open University
Take a tour of an interactive plane to learn more about Aeroplane Design and Engineering.
Dallas Campbell joins the city in the sky
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