Why would China's planes flying to the United States prefer to detour through the North Pole rather than across the Pacific Ocean?
There are a lot of planes flying over our heads every day, but these planes are not flying randomly, we sometimes see two planes walking opposite each other, flying very fast, coupled with the loud roar, people can't help but Worried that the two planes will collide in mid-air?
Such a thing has really happened in history. When the plane first became a manned vehicle in the air, the air traffic construction was not complete. In addition, flying by plane was a very luxurious thing at that time, and pilots often flew planes over famous scenic spots. Up in the sky, passengers can enjoy the view from the sky. And the accident happened in this situation, in 1956, two planes collided over the Grand Canyon in the United States.
The two planes involved in the accident, one belonging to United Airlines Flight 718 from Los Angeles to Chicago, and the other belonging to TWA Flight 2, flying from Los Angeles to Kansas, both want to enjoy the scenery as they pass through the Grand Canyon at the same time. , As a result, the two planes kissed after they met in Daxia, and in an instant, one disintegrated directly, and the other hit the ground. 128 people were killed. The accident was the worst air disaster in aviation history at the time.
After this incident, the flight route of the aircraft was clearly stipulated. The aircraft can only fly in strict accordance with the specified route, and the yaw will cause the entire air traffic to be paralyzed. Secondly, each flight of an aircraft must consider the issue of revenue, because airlines also need to obtain benefits, and each flight takes off a lot of costs. In order to save the cost of the aircraft as much as possible, it is necessary to draw an optimal driving route according to the actual situation in the planning of the route. Many aviation routes are planned according to the shortest straight-line distance. Save aircraft flight costs and fuel.
So why doesn't China fly to the United States directly across the Pacific Ocean? First of all, everyone has made a geographical misunderstanding. You think that there is only a straight line between the two places, but it is not. The earth is a sphere, so the plane's The flight should be in an arc shape. In the professional field, the shortest flight distance of an aircraft is called the "great circle route" . The earth is a sphere, and any two points on the ground and the center of the earth are regarded as a plane, and the great circle is the arc connecting these three points. Therefore, the shortest line is the arc, and the flight of the aircraft is also related to the latitude and longitude. The ideal distance from Shanghai, China to New York, USA is the "Great Circle Route" over the North Pole.
Of course, the actual flight is also affected by various factors, so it is impossible to fit the "Great Circle Route" very well. Take Shanghai to New York. This route usually leaps over Japan and reaches Los Angeles across the Pacific Ocean. This distance is farther than the "Great Circle Route". However, affected by the prevailing westerly winds in the northern hemisphere, the flight speed of the aircraft is faster than that on other routes, so China often chooses this route to fly to the United States, but if the United States flies to China, it cannot fly this route, because then the aircraft is flying against the wind. , the speed will be greatly limited, and the fuel consumption will be more, so the United States will choose the "big circle route" when flying to China.
In addition to not crossing the Pacific Ocean, the distance is not the closest. In fact, there is no ground for forced landing on this route passing through the Pacific Ocean . After all, it is difficult to build a transfer station in the Pacific Ocean, due to the vast distance between China and the United States. For a voyage that takes more than ten hours of flight time, it is definitely necessary to supply fuel and other materials, and the cost of building a transfer station in the Pacific Ocean is very staggering. Most countries believe that this kind of foothold is established. The actual significance of the project is less than the cost of construction, so it is unwilling to invest, and would rather choose to pass through some land countries, so that there is an airport for landing when supplies and fuel are needed.
The most important thing is that it is very dangerous if you encounter some bad weather and emergency situations during a long-distance flight. The air flow over the ocean is not stable. Compared with the air flow over the ground, it is more dangerous and erratic. It may be clear when you take off. But when you get to the sky over the ocean, there will be violent winds, lightning and thunder, which will have a very large impact on the flight of the aircraft. Usually, the planes flying on the ground are often grounded when encountering strong convective weather, and the planes that have already departed often choose to fly. Emergency landing, the plane over the ocean has no ditching point for forced landing, and the consequences are unimaginable.