Why do we embark on planes from the left-hand side?

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Mar 23, 2005 | 7:38 am

#31

PresRDC

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Join Date: May 2001

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At least one gate in the TWA Terminal at JFK (Terminal 5, the famous one) featured a jetbridge which connected to the right hand side (when looking at the terminal from the air, it was the in the left concourse, right hand side closest to the terminal). I have a photo in a book about JFK showing a 747 docked there (circa late 80s or early 90s).

Mar 23, 2005 | 8:39 am

#32

WHBM

Join Date: Jul 2001

Location: London, England.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JGR01

It was a Nord Tri-Islander. Think it was high wing one engine per wing and some sort of high center mounted pusher engine. They loaded with several doors .. I recall right under the wing was a right-hand door.

One of these. Don't laugh, it's British. The door arrangement is a bit like some stretched limos. Light aircraft don't need to stick to the convenions we are discussing here.

Mar 25, 2005 | 10:20 am

#33

KE6HPK

Join Date: Mar 2005

Posts: 1

From an old timer

I agree with the message about why we board on the left on the modern day aircraft. I first started flying in my career on DC-6's. On those, boarding was on the right up forward and on the left back aft.

We sure have come a long way since the DC-6's and the Connies to the state-of-the-art Airbus 380 and the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner."

Mar 25, 2005 | 7:33 pm

#34

LarryJ

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Quote:

Originally Posted by WHBM

Why does the captain sit on the left ? Because the engine control runs are normally up the centre of the aircraft for mechanical reasons

I was with you right up to the last paragraph.

The engine controls are in the center so that one set of controls can be reached by both pilots.

The Captain sits on the left for the same reason that the driver sits on the left in a car in most parts of the world. Flying with the yoke in your dominant hand would be preferable which is why single seat, or tandum seat, airplanes are setup with the engine controls on the left and the stick in the middle.

May 29, 2013 | 6:29 am

#35

brettchallenger

Join Date: May 2013

Posts: 1

Another reason for boarding from the left has nothing whatsoever to do with aircraft. During the Great War (WW1) there was a huge increase in aircraft, the majority being military. The pilots for these machines tended to come from higher echelons of society and approached aeroplanes in much the same way as they did horses - with which most pilots would have been familiar. Horses are always (in the military at least) mounted from the left, a hangover from having to wear cumbersome swords on the riders left side. If you look at old film footage of the day, you will see that aircraft are always mounted from the left, this was long before airports existed.