Why Planes Avoid Flying Over the Pacific Ocean
Bright Side takes a look at why airlines tend to avoid flying over the Pacific Ocean on trips from the west coast of the United States to locations in Asia. While safety is a real concern, the actual reasons have more to do with the extra distance to travel due to the curvature of the Earth, extra Equatorial width and the effect of opposing jet streams.
Related Laughing Squid PostsAn Up Close View of a Gorgeous Translucent Cockatoo Squid Swimming Deep in the Salish SeaFootage Taken From Civilian Tourist Flights in a MiG-29 Aircraft Zooming Along at the Edge of SpaceA Fascinating Map Showing What Current International Borders Might Look Like in 250 Million YearsOn a 2D map, making a giant rainbow to avoid the Pacific Ocean looks like a much longer route. But since the Earth is a sphere, a straight line is going to look very different in three-dimensional spaces. The combination of the two factors, the curvature of the Earth and its extra equatorial width, mean that curving toward the poles is a shorter distance than flying (what seems like on a map) "straight" across!
Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard and Subscribe by Email.
The post Why Planes Avoid Flying Over the Pacific Ocean first appeared on Laughing Squid.