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Daily Joke: An Airline Pilot Had Poor Eyesight and Managed to Get Away with It

Junie Sihlangu
Aug 09, 2020
10:30 P.M.

Sometimes people stick to jobs they like even when they aren’t qualified. One pilot managed to cover up that he had poor eyesight for a long time just so he could keep flying.

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A pilot who worked for a certain airline had poor eyesight but managed to pass the periodic vision exam using a clever method. He had memorized the eye chart long ago and just recited what he recalled.

However, one particular year the doctor decided to use a new chart that the pilot wasn’t familiar with. The pilot recited the old chart and the doctor quickly noticed what he had been doing all along.

Lady with eyeglasses in front of an eye chart on April 20, 2013 | Photo: Flickr/Les Black

Lady with eyeglasses in front of an eye chart on April 20, 2013 | Photo: Flickr/Les Black

PILOT’S BAD EYESIGHT

She realized he was almost blind judging by the results. Curious as to how he’d managed to fly all these years she asked him how he was able to do his job with eyesight that bad.

She questioned: “I mean how, for example, do you taxi the plane out to the runway?” The confident pilot noted how that was not too hard for him.

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A plane flying toward a beautiful brown landscape | Photo: Pexels

A plane flying toward a beautiful brown landscape | Photo: Pexels

HOW THE PILOT TAKES OFF

“All you have to do is follow the instructions of the ground controller over the radio,” the airline pilot confessed. He also added how all the landmarks had become familiar to him "over the years.”

Hearing the logic in his explanation she queried how he was able to take-off. The pilot answered: “I just aim the plane down the runway, go to full throttle, pull back on the stick, and off we go!”

People boarding a plane | Photo: Pexels/Anugrah Lohiya

People boarding a plane | Photo: Pexels/Anugrah Lohiya

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AIRPLANE AUTOMATION

The doctor then wanted to know what he did when he was now in the sky flying. He explained how everything was automated “these days.”

An airplane flying over a picturesque view | Photo: Pexels/Reto Bürkler

An airplane flying over a picturesque view | Photo: Pexels/Reto Bürkler

FLYING ON AUTOPILOT

The pilot revealed how “the flight computer” knew their destination already. All he did was press the autopilot button “and the plane pretty much flies itself.”

A plane flying in the sky | Photo: Pexels

A plane flying in the sky | Photo: Pexels

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HOW HE LANDS

Perplexed by how the pilot had been cheating the system for so long, she asked how he landed. Laughing, the pilot confessed that was the “the easiest part of all.”

A plane on the tarmac | Photo: Vincent Albos / condowizard.ca

A plane on the tarmac | Photo: Vincent Albos / condowizard.ca

WAITING FOR THE CO-PILOT TO YELL

He shared how he used “the airport’s radio beacon to get us on the proper glide path.” Then he would throttle down and when the co-pilot yelled, “Aieeeeeeeeeee!!!,” the pilot pulled the plane’s nose up, and landed safe and sound!

What did you think of this joke?

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