[ul][]The message board is dedicated to fighting ignorance, not error. You know, things like not knowing what the message board is dedicated to fighting. []Your point is only valid if the OP was unsure of how to spell Lindbergh. [*]Your pedantic smart-assery wasted a hell of lot more time than three tenths of a second.[/ul]
I don’t usually see this in the US, unless it was a particularly difficult landing (like in a snowstorm).
That cracked me up. Thank you. claps and LOLs
I was on one of those seats as a passenger in small plane at Moosonee. The seat was not pinned in its track, and the door was not properly closed, so when the plane started to taxi, the seat, with me strapped in it, slid back to the end of the track and then bounced out the door, leaving me sitting on the runway, fortunately uninjured. There was no victory lap, but the plane did stop and the pilot came back for me.
Either have I, and I’ve flown quite a bit. However, when I do fly, from take-off to landing, I’m in such a state of panic and distress (I don’t tolerate flying very well) that when we do land safely, I sort of silently clap, you know, on the inside.
Flying makes me a bundle of nerves. I have witnessed the clapping. I have joined in the clapping. Sometimes it’s just a lot of strangers finding common ground in being happy to be alive/home/whatever, and I’m generally pleased when a large group of people behave happily rather than trying to rip each other’s faces off.
Correct. Most people will not feel more vulnerable and powerless than when they are a passenger on an aircraft. You have absolutely no control of a relatively tenuous situation: there is no pulling over to the side of the road after engine trouble; and, yes, accidents in aircraft are infrequent relative to automobiles (duh, many more people drive much more frequently), but let’s discuss survivability statistics after an accident.
That’s one of the best descriptions of Dopers I’ve seen in a long time. 
I’m totally going to start doing that.
Is this new? I admit that it has been almost a dozen years since I was on a commercial flight, but between 1973 and 1999, I had been on numerous commuter, cross-country, and international flights and I have never encountered this phenomenon.
(Are you sure they weren’t clapping for the closing credits of the in-flight movies? 
)
Clearly, you haven’t been on a commercial flight in a while.
I try to scream frantic curse words followed by praise
I fly often, and see it often enough. I can’t recall it happening 20 years ago, though.
It’s one of my pet peeves, at least when it happens after a completely uneventful flight. (I can see it after a rough flight where we’ve flown through bad weather or turbulence.)
It’s like people are amazed by the fact that the plane has achieved its most basic objective, that is, taking off, flying to the destination, and landing without crashing.
Meh, all I saw was a drunken fist fight. No clapping when we handed–I think everybody was too hung over.
Well, Marley23, is your real name Mr. Pitt?
The best thing is to yell “Hope the plane don’t crash!” just as the plane takes off.
If anyone objects, tell them you’re emulating Bill Cosby.
Isn’t clapping just rapidly and repeatedly hi-fiving yourself anyway?
As mentioned, only certain groups tend to do it. Puerto Ricans and Italians do and I can believe they do it in Eastern Europe as well although I have never been there. If you don’t go to places dominated by passengers on flights, you wouldn’t normally see it.
I’ve only seen this once, on a trans-Atlantic flight. It was a few days, maybe a week, after they’d started letting airplanes land in the States after 9/11. People were acting like they’d just seen the winning touchdown at the Superbowl. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I joined in, either.
Although, honestly, I don’t think you need an aeronautics-related national tragedy as an excuse. After spending thirteen hours on an airplane, the opportunity to get the fuck off of it is worth a little celebration, IMO.
That sounds pretty nice. I don’t get why people are so upset by it either. If it’s not abnormal to thank the bus driver, why not do the same thing for the pilot?
It kind of reminds me of people who get upset by little things like saying “No problem” for “Thank you.” It actually makes me want to do it even more, too.
I haven’t experienced the clapping after landing since the 80’s. Back then, people were allowed to smoke during the flight. That seems impossibly strange now.