To: The Media. Subject: Aviation Terminology Crash Course

So lately a lot has happened in the aviation industry. The biggest ones (and most talked about) ones were probably about Malaysia Airlines flights 17 and 370 as well as AirAsia Indonesia flight 8501. Now I won't go into details about those tragedies as the internet is LITTERED with them. What I do want to talk about is correct terminology used in the reporting of these incidents and the likes of it by the media. 

Now let's face it. The media nowadays is rubbish. At least when it comes to aviation. A lot of them are still 'sakai', as the Malays say and will jump at any opportunity to report something first before actually bothering to confirm facts.

For example a Boeing 777 was involved but the images on TV shows a Boeing 737 or worse, they labeled it as an Airbus A380 or some crazy horse manure of that sort. This is totally misleading. Sure I do not expect every reporter to recognize all the different aircraft types but I would expect them to at least put in the effort of relaying the correct information to the public, even small details which almost 90% of the time, aviation enthusiasts are able to sniff it out if you f**ked up big time or made shit up.

Take for example the recent case of AirAsia Indonesia 8501. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A320 but some media outlets put out an image of an AirAsia X Airbus A330 aircraft. I mean the difference in branding of AirAsia and AirAsia X is pretty obvious. Seriously? You think the public won't notice? Makes me wonder how do these kind of people even have their jobs.

But ladies and gentlemen, incorrect portrayal of information in the media is nothing new. I'm pretty sure as soon as word worthy of 'news material' comes in most media outlets would just rush in and dump in whatever bull they can grab in 5 seconds just to be among the first to headline the event.

But moving on to what I really want to talk about today: terminology.

Terminology is very important. It is something that has to be pinpoint accurate and you can't mess this up in aviation. Today I wanna point up some of the crap that the media puts out and correct them. Or at least attempt to put them in layman terms. Bear in mind I am not an aviation expert and have never and never will claim to be. I just share a passion and a similar mindset to millions of other aviation enthusiasts. Note the difference between 'enthusiast' and 'expert'?

If you still haven't figured it out, the enthusiasts are those people who don't mind sitting at an airport Starbucks for hours watching planes or stand under the hot sun with DSLRs snapping away at airplanes. We just love aviation that much. Oh and we don't just do the above mentioned. Wayy more but I'll leave that for now.

Experts, however are those who are actually qualified and have been trained in their specific fields of knowledge in aviation. They are the ones who are qualified to give statements to the media and to analyse aviation incidents. Not you keyboard warriors and conspiracy theorists or even those who post some information they've got from Google 5 seconds ago just to make themselves look smart.

Sometimes, they can be both at the same time. Hats off to you, pilots! :)

Joystick 
I have to get this one out of the way first because it irks me the most. Planes are not FLOWN (not DRIVEN) by control columns and rudder pedals. And no the pedals are not like brakes and gas! The traditional old-school planes way back in the day were flown with a big wheel which looks similar to a car steering wheel. Except you could also pull and push them. Today, the aircraft flight controls are manipulated by the control columns or control yoke. Some aircraft like the Airbus A318/319/320/321/330/340/350/380 are flown with a sidestick.

Control yoke on a Boeing 737

              

The captain side sidestick on an Airbus aircraft.

It may seem like a harmless product of an ignorant writer/editor but it may offend some people, especially pilots. When you use the word 'joystick', you are giving this idea to the public that the pilots up front are not doing a lot of work, as if they are doing what they do for fun and are playing games up there.

THIS HAS TO STOP.

Either correctly label it as what it should be or don't print your news at all!

Tarmac
Now imagine an airport in its entirety as a human body. The terminal, runways, taxiways and the support buildings are like the limbs and organs. The tarmac is none of those. Why? Because the tarmac is not a part of an airport. It is simply the surface or material used to make one/or some of those parts. You will often find the word tarmac used in a caption below a photo of a plane parked at its gate/parking bay. The correct terminology for that part of an airport is the apron.
I won't ramble off much here because AeroSavvy has a brilliant post about it and will help clear your doubts and understanding a little better. Check out the post here.

Runaway
Now this is the one where a lot of people get wrong. I don't know about you guys but almost each time someone talks to me about it they use the wrong term. Can't blame them now, can I?

So which runaway is it? 

NONE OF THE ABOVE!

I will tell you now however that the correct term is 'runway'. Not like a fugitive runaway or whatsoever but RUNWAY with only 1(one) 'a'. The runway is that long strip of asphalt that planes land and takeoff on, and no, it is not the place where planes are parked.

Like these, those long strips with white piano keys and white markings and numbers on them.

Pilots
Now there is often a misconception that a 'pilot' refers to only the captain and that the 'co-pilot' is just an extra pair of hands on the flight deck. Wrong.
Both of them are pilots. Both of them are equally qualified to fly the aircraft and both of them share an equal amount of duties during a flight. The one in the left hand seat is the captain. The one in the right hand seat is the first officer. The terms flight engineer and navigator are rarely used nowadays because modern commercial aircraft are designed to be operated by two people.
Easiest way to tell them apart? Look at how many stripes they have on their shoulders or coat cuff. A captain has four. First officers have two to three, however this may differ in different airlines.

Flight Attendant
The terms 'air steward' or 'stewardess' are kinda old-fashioned. They are officially known now as cabin crew or flight attendants. And a little heads up, they are not 'fancy waiters and waitresses'. To call one that would be a complete insult. They do more than serve you peanuts and juice in the air.

So this is it for this quick post. Thought I'd get some things that's been irking me lately out of the way. Do you know a term in aviation that is often incorrectly used in the media? Leave a comment below!
Chao! :)