# Why are you idiots clapping when the plane lands? (mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975 "2010-10-13T09:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/1 "2010-10-13T09:03:38Z")
Did you think not turning the plane into a fireball and crashing into a mountain was a special treat? Do you think we are Lindburg, making the dangerous crossing to Newark for the first time? And it’s not like the pilots can hear you through their terrorist-proof door. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/2 "2010-10-13T09:08:32Z")
Silly boy, don’t you realize that passengers clap because there is not enough space to dance? Try thinking things through next time. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/3 "2010-10-13T09:12:32Z")
Were you flying from Germany? Might there have been a lot of Germans on board? I have heard this is a German thing. Makes no more or less sense to me than most other traditions, like saying “bless you” for example. ETA: Did you mean to put this in the BBQ Pit? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/4 "2010-10-13T09:24:13Z")
It used to be quite common for Spaniards, too, not so much nowadays but if someone starts the whole plane will join in. It’s just a way to show appreciation to the pilot. When you’re coming off a bus, you can thank the driver and wish him well, but in a plane you don’t have that option. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/5 "2010-10-13T09:31:45Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It used to be quite common for Spaniards, too, not so much nowadays but if someone starts the whole plane will join in. > > It’s just a way to show appreciation to the pilot. When you’re coming off a bus, you can thank the driver and wish him well, but in a plane you don’t have that option. Why not? Usually they open up the cockpit and half the time they are thanking the passengers as they get off. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/6 "2010-10-13T09:46:59Z")
The only time I remember hearing passengers clap is while flying with Canadians. The pilot probably does not want to die either, so that probably encourages him to avoid crashing into mountains. I do not understand the clapping either. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/7 "2010-10-13T09:54:57Z")
Puerto Ricans piss me off as well. At least they appreciate the small things though. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/8 "2010-10-13T09:56:35Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > > [@Nava](#): > > > > It used to be quite common for Spaniards, too, not so much nowadays but if someone starts the whole plane will join in. > > > > It’s just a way to show appreciation to the pilot. When you’re coming off a bus, you can thank the driver and wish him well, but in a plane you don’t have that option. > > Why not? Usually they open up the cockpit and half the time they are thanking the passengers as they get off. Maybe where you live, but not in the last flights I’ve been in. And even with the cabin open, you’re not walking out through the cabin, whereas in a bus you are walking out close enough to the driver that you can touch him. The only times I’ve disembarked from a plane where the people at the door were pilots and not cabin crew, they were planes small enough to not have cabin crew. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/9 "2010-10-13T10:01:14Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > The pilot probably does not want to die either, . . . [Not always](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990). ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/10 "2010-10-13T10:32:26Z")
I get this all the time on flights into and out of Russia. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/11 "2010-10-13T10:54:54Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > I get this all the time on flights into and out of Russia. I once took a Cubana Airlines flight from Cancun to Havana in a Russian built plane. I almost started clapping myself when that POS landed. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/12 "2010-10-13T10:59:43Z")
This used to be customary on El Al flights as well. Thankfully, Israelis seem to be gradually losing this habit… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/13 "2010-10-13T11:21:54Z")
I have no idea why people do this either. One time I accidentally started a round of plane landing applause when I clapped sarcastically to point out the stupidity of doing the same. > [@What has caused you to laugh the most?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-caused-you-to-laugh-the-most/347672/52): > > Near the end of our flight back to New York, I leaned over to my mother and remembered that when I was younger, people used to clap when the plane landed. ‘What a stupid custom,’ I told her. ‘Did these idiots get on the plane, then realize maybe the pilot didn’t know how to land it?’ I railed, quietly, in this fashion for a minute or two and concluded by saying ‘At least I haven’t heard it since September 11th. I guess people decided the possibility that the pilot actually couldn’t land was a little too real and not too funny.’ > > A few minutes later, the plane landed on US soil. I sarcastically clapped my hands a few times. And then it happened. A few passengers way in front of me started clapping, and a moment later, the whole plane burst into applause. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/14 "2010-10-13T11:22:21Z")
Probably could have shoe-horned this in to mini-rants. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/15 "2010-10-13T11:30:06Z")
I clap. It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t cost anything, and it doesn’t keep me on the plane longer. Furthermore, I appreciate the skills of a talented pilot more than a 12 year old girl appreciates the singing ability of Justin Beiber. SSG § Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/16 "2010-10-13T11:37:48Z")
It’s very common on UK flights - generally the cheaper holiday flights (charters, Ryanair etc). It’s usually accompanied by the rattling of cheap jewellery and the _swish swish_ of brightly-coloured nylon leisure-wear. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/17 "2010-10-13T11:52:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Do you think we are Lindburg, making the dangerous crossing to Newark for the first time? Isn’t it a coincidence that **Lindburg** flew across thew Hudson for the first time, and some guy named [Lindbergh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh) flew across the Atlantic solo for the first time? What are the odds two guys with such similar – but differently-spelled – names would achieve historical firsts in flight? See, that’s the kind of thing that would inspire _me_ to clap. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/18 "2010-10-13T11:53:46Z")
In Sweden it’s called the Mediterranean charter flight applause, not occurring on charter flights to other destinations or on regular flights. However, I have taken part in a very spontaneous applause when landing with a charter flight in England (or on the return trip, I don’t remember which) when the flight attendant saying thank you to the passengers happened to call the captain _Blomkål_ (cauliflower) instead of _Blomkvist_. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/19 "2010-10-13T11:57:11Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Isn’t it a coincidence that **Lindburg** flew across thew Hudson for the first time, and some guy named [Lindbergh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh) flew across the Atlantic solo for the first time? _Lindburg_ is very probably just an anglicised spelling of _Lindbergh_ (or rather _Lindberg_). ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975/20 "2010-10-13T12:02:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I have no idea why people do this either. One time I accidentally started a round of plane landing applause when I clapped sarcastically to point out the stupidity of doing the same. I agree it’s pretty stupid, but I can’t get upset about it. It’s charming, harmless idiocy - they are saying, “Thank you for working your pilot wizardry and not allowing this scientific witchcraft to kill us all!” Or something equally mixed-up. If you lined up all the idiotic acts from most to least well-intentioned, this would end up somewhere near feeding bread to pigeons, only it doesn’t help those mangy shit-machines flourish. Now I think about it, throughout my life, most times I have clapped it is out of social obligation, not out of any rational desire to convey appreciation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-idiots-clapping-when-the-plane-lands-mild/556975.md?page=2)