Clapping After Landing?

aaden · Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:45 pm

alright guys this has happened to me before on AA UA and f9 flights. After a seemingly normal flight some people feel the need to start clapping after touchdown.
why is this?

m180up · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:09 pm

maybe they were latin Big grin

Skookum · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:10 pm

Simple. On the AA flights, they are plenty happy to not have had an encouter with mice.

On F9, they must have recently heard "Discount Airline Pilot Guy" from Bud Light "Real Men of Genius"... scared

Cheers
Skookum

masseybrown · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:13 pm

Very common in Asia. What's the harm?

TriStar500 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:13 pm

This used to be a regular occurence on charter flights in the 80's and early 90's, but in the recent years, this has somewhat come out of fashion over here. Guess more and more people are getting used to take a flight as an everyday means of transportation, so they don't see the process of flying and touching down as a work of magic anymore. Wink

aaden · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:24 pm

Quoting MasseyBrown (Reply 3):

no harm, just unusual.

fly727 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:26 pm

That was very common about 20 years ago (that I can recall). I remember that when the landing were very soft the people would show its appreciation to the pilots by giving them a warm applause. These days with those closed heavy metal doors it is cold and impractical.

...and also because besides me, there is hardly another pilot that could land good enough for our passengers. bouncy

RM

Fly2CHC · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:33 pm

I've always been fascinated by this - I recall it was a common occurence on Aeroflot. There is never clapping when a train driver pulls into a station, or a ferry Captain docks into port.

WesternA318 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:43 pm

Quoting Skookum (Reply 2):
On F9, they must have recently heard "Discount Airline Pilot Guy" from Bud Light "Real Men of Genius"...

LMAO!

Oh man,the greeks on ANY ATH flight will clap as the planemeets terra firma, EVERY TIME. On TW, UA, DL, PA, Homeric, youname it, they clap nomatter what, they probably still think an airplaneis a mystical creature

Jahmike · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:45 pm

I have always wandered about this too. It happens all the time when I fly to the Caribbean no matter what airline I am on.

pilotaydin · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:51 pm

let me explain why it happens out on this side of the world.....

1. Most people that fly on my airline to central anatolia are flying for the first time, or they are VERY scared....and when we land it's their expression of relief...ESPECIALLY if the flight was turbulent...

2. Most people that we shuttle from Europe to Turkey are large turkish families that only fly once in every 10 years to come back to Turkey and see their relatives....so not only are they happy that they landed safely but they are also happy to be back in their homeland....

so it's not that bizarre if you think about it

Allessandro · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:52 pm

Men, I really hate it when people clap after landing... it's my job to do it safe and smooth... do you ever clap when you're in a restaurant and the waiter serves your meal?

dogfighter2111 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:54 pm

haha, this happens on every charter flight i am on. <-- Not saying anything by this Big grin

Personally i think it is just congratulating the pilot on a safe landing. We certainly clapped like we never clapped before after we had a slight incident on approach.

Thanks
Mike

WesternA318 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:55 pm

Quoting Allessandro (Reply 11):
do you ever clap when you're in a restaurant and the waiter serves your meal?

No...but THANKS for the suggestion!

turnit56N · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:57 pm

I agree with the above. It's as if they're surprised and impressed that I managed to land the plane. I personally don't like it when people clap. It's not a miracle the plane made it down, it's my job. A "nice landing" while disembarking is always appreciated, though!

Seems to happen on B6 a lot, too.

Aeroflot777 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:59 pm

This practice is very common in Russia and CIS countries. The reason being, that they want to thank the pilots and FA's for a great flight, and for landing them safely at their destination. Its just one of many way you can show your appreciation toward the flight crew. I personally love this idea, and always clap myself as well. But I do it only when at least a few other people do it around me. Again, on Russian flights its very common, so there is mostly always a group that will.

Aeroflot777

Skookum · Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:03 pm

Quoting Aeroflot777 (Reply 15):
The reason being, that they want to thank the pilots and FA's for...landing them...at their destination

Poor Ryanair crews probably don't receive too many ovations... spin

Cheers
Skookum

himself · Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:03 pm

Yeah, I never used to applaud landings, but when I was flying to Moscow to visit the in-laws, my wife told me to clap when we touched down and that that Russians always clap upon landing. I guess it's just a Russian thing. I don't mind.

NoUFO · Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:09 pm

Quoting Skookum (Reply 16):
Poor Ryanair crews probably don't receive too many ovations...

ROFL

Thanks for the laugh.

The last time I witnessed people clapping was 27 years ago and I don't miss it.

TheSunseeker · Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:45 pm

Quoting Allessandro (Reply 11):
Men, I really hate it when people clap after landing... it's my job to do it safe and smooth... do you ever clap when you're in a restaurant and the waiter serves your meal?

When the waiter is doing a good job he's getting a tip.
Should he refuse the tip?

When the pilot does a nice job some people like to clap. Whats wrong with that? I dont clap, but if people want to why not. To me its kind of rude to say "I'm just doing my job"!!!!

Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:08 pm

I never clap on landings on regular flights, on charter I do, haven't been on a charter flight in 15 years though.

But last time I did it was on a flight from Copenhagen to Agadir with my father, and we said to eachother (knowing that everyone was waiting for the touch down) that we should start applauding the moment before touch down.
And we did, and man the other passengers got pissed. "Stop it" "Idiots, we haven't landed" and so on Big grin

sq452 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:12 pm

I've noticed this a few times as well on a few flights, and I have come to this conclusion:

1) High School Class Trips. For some reason, after an un-eventful flight I hear clapping and girls screaming like they are at a game or something. I look up and its usually teenagers in a large group of some sort...if they have pom poms or ribbons in their hair then they are most likely cheerleaders...in which case i expect there to be more than clapping, break out a cheer at least!!!

checkeredflag

"D-E-L-T-A, you carried us all the way, hey hey hey hey" checkeredflag

or something stupid like that...if your gonna celebrate mind as well go all out... checkmark

2) Bad turbulence, or worse...you are 300 feet off the runway and you do a go around to find that your wheels are not going down. Everyone holds their breath like its the end of the world (where us a.netters know its really not all that bad, usually a broken indicator light or something in the cockpit). In that case, an applause is warranted.

Anyone ever get stuck with a large group that doesn't seem to fly all that often??? Those are fun flights....not. And they always end the flight with an applause.

CV990 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:13 pm

Hi!

I experienced that when I flew two weeks ago from LIS to BOG via EWR with CO. We had two types of "audience", the portuguese and the colombians, of course these were blended with US citizens on both ways. From LIS to EWR nothing happened when we landed at EWR. But from EWR to BOG because our flight was quite evenfull ( delay due to a technical malfunction of one of the engines of our 737-700 and because 1 hour before we landed our plane passed a very heavy thunderstorm...) when our Captain landed the passengers just gave a big aplause, I don't know if it was because we were on firm ground or if the crew did a great job....some people were very stressy with all this! From BOG to EWR nothing happened when we landed but from EWR to LIS again when the plane landed the passengers gave a good aplause to the crew.
Regards

rongotai · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:16 pm

Here in WLG it seems to happen when the first attempt in our wind becomes a missed approach and then the second attempt is successful.

I was amused a while back at an outbreak of ironic clapping. It was the second day of UA 777 ops IAD-LHR. The brand new (first passenger carrying flight) aircraft did some engine run ups over in a distant corner of IAD and sucked some foreign matter into the engine. The result was that our 21.00 departure became an 06.00 next day one. When we finally landed at LHR there was an outbreak of clapping and whistling. This was NOT offering congratulations!

UN_B732 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:16 pm

What I've found interesting is while on CIS airlines themselves it's common, when I fly a euro carrier into a CIS country it doens't happen as much.
-Mr. x
PS: I don't have anything against it, I think it's pleasant. I have a video of landing (AeroSvit 767, UR-VVF) accompanied by applause I'll upload to this thread in a few days.

sq452 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:34 pm

Quoting Rongotai (Reply 23):
Here in WLG it seems to happen when the first attempt in our wind becomes a missed approach and then the second attempt is successful.

About 6 years ago this happened to us almost. However we touched down WAYYYY further down that runway than we should have. Back in the NZ B737-200 days! On our way down to DUD from AKL, pilot threw on the breaks HARD. We were still going somewhat fast when we turned at the end. FUN landing, and a wonderfully nice and modern airport you have down there in WLG bigthumbsup

Gary2880 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:38 pm

congratulation's you managed to do your job and not kill us all in the process!! round of applause, *clap clap clap clap clap....*

WesternA318 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:40 pm

Gary,

WARN me next time I read that! lol, I just spritzed out almost half a can of Dr. pepper from my nose upon reading, lmao.

ACDC8 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:42 pm

Just an observation out of my own personal experiences, but I have found that this was a very popular fad on European carriers back in the 1990's, but now it seems to be more limited to the European charters as opposed to the mainline carriers.

BHMNONREV · Mon Jul 24, 2006 5:47 pm

Quoting NoUFO (Reply 18):
The last time I witnessed people clapping was 27 years ago and I don't miss it.

You and I must have been on the same Condor flight from Frankfurt to Palma in 1979... Big grin

jorge1812 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:27 pm

I remember reading about a flight were pax aleready filled the cabin with clapping when the a/c get off the rwy and ended somewhere beside it IIRC there were also some injuries/deads.

I experienced this often on charter flights when the main gear was on the ground....a bit early when reading ther above.

Georg

moparman · Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:31 pm

I think it's a very nice touch. I have to agree with Aeroflot777. While I don't clap myself, well.... did once, I do always say thank you when exiting the aircraft.

VEEREF · Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:52 pm

Clapping used to happen as a show of polite gratitude to the flight crew for a safe journey.
That's why it's looked at today as weird. "Polite" and "gratitude" simply aren't major aspects of today's society any longer.

smokeyrosco · Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:24 pm

I notice when a large group of people are together that they tend to clap upon landing, more because of the excitement of a holiday thats really just started for them and probably less about food they got on the plane.

BlueShamu330s · Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:25 pm

I know a colleague who once got a very nasty dose of the clap downroute, and he didn't appreciate THAT....! smirk

....Oh, are you referring to something else...? footinmouth

My bad

NoUFO · Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:35 pm

Quoting BHMNONREV (Reply 29):
The last time I witnessed people clapping was 27 years ago and I don't miss it.

You and I must have been on the same Condor flight from Frankfurt to Palma in 1979... Big grin

Close.

I flew Condor Bremen - Palma the year before. And yes, people were clapping. The last time, however, was an Itavia flight from Dusseldorf to Naples.

Quoting VEEREF (Reply 32):
"Polite" and "gratitude" simply aren't major aspects of today's society any longer.

When I leave the plane, I say "Thank you and have a nice day" - the same I say to a taxi driver after backing into a parking space. It's not impolite but less pathetic than clapping.

upsmd11 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:48 pm

Quoting M180up (Reply 1):
maybe they were latin Big grin rotfl

When I flew MIA - MCO - GRU on Transbrasil back in 1997 the landing in GRU ended in clapping, which totally caught me off guard. So, the Latin thing does make sense in this respect. I think it's an act that is done out of respect for the skills of the flight crew. No harm, no foul.

Cheers,
John

orlando666 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:22 pm

pet-hate of mine.....

once in horrific weather i was a pax on a LH 321 (MUC-LHR). After 2 missed approaches in very strong wind, the crew finally put down on the 3rd approach. The A321 landed on its right main gear very hard, bounced, then landed really hard on both maingear. Nose gear seemed to take ages to hit ground, while the sensation of being constantly shearing to the right of the runway was very strong. (was sitting just behind Door 2R). After high speed turn-off, the plane lurched on high braking and stopped.

Then we could see the 1st Officer burst out of the cockpit and run to the toilet. To me that was the best statement - none of us could clap....

FrancoBlanco · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:22 pm

Quoting Jorge1812 (Reply 30):
I remember reading about a flight were pax aleready filled the cabin with clapping when the a/c get off the rwy and ended somewhere beside it IIRC there were also some injuries/deads.

Like in the video I once saw where a TACA (?) 767 overshot the runway after landing (somewhen in the nineties), there were also a few dead IIRC. Right after touchdown, people start to clap but the plane doesn´t slow down and then hits something.

If you HAVE to clap, wait until the A/C has arrived at the gate. A lot can happen between "touchdown" and "parking brake set" (also see the NW incident with the DC-9 and the A319).

Sebastian

sampa737 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:27 pm

Happens in Brasil quite often. No biggee. I remember flying Tam a couple of years ago. It was the weekend when 2 of their planes "problems". After our Tam F-100 landed from Paraguay, folks even cheered! The applause has never been loud on flights that I have been on.

Gr8Circle · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:32 pm

Quoting MasseyBrown (Reply 3):
Very common in Asia. What's the harm?

Uhh...Asia's quite big....which part of Asia are you referring to? I've done a lot of flying within India and to countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong....I have never encountered this clapping business anywhere....

To me, it seems more like a European / S. American thing.....

bh4007 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:35 pm

I don't like it and I bet the crew don't either - it's insulting as it suggests that a good landing is unusual and that it was 'by chance' or lucky. There is no need to be surprised or even grateful that the airplane landed safely, because they always do!

Gr8Circle · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:44 pm

Quoting Bh4007 (Reply 41):
I don't like it and I bet the crew don't either - it's insulting as it suggests that a good landing is unusual and that it was 'by chance' or lucky. There is no need to be surprised or even grateful that the airplane landed safely, because they always do!

I don't like it either....seems so silly and pointless....

Pax who feel the need to appreciate safe landings should also clap on completion of a safe take-off, because most accidents occur almost equally during T/O's and landings....

UAL777UK · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:47 pm

If you ever flew Dan Dare, sorry, Dan Air you will know why passengers clapped..out of a sense of relief!! Big grin

iairallie · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:58 pm

When my passengers clap it's usually because they are back on US soil after a year in combat.

Clapping on a commercial flight doesn't bug me but I do think it's kinda dorky.

ANITIX87 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:59 pm

Quoting Allessandro (Reply 11):
do you ever clap when you're in a restaurant and the waiter serves your meal?

No, but last night we did when out waitress dropped a plate and a glass and they broke. The entire restaurant erupted into applause. Haha. Smile

As for clapping on landing, I don't see it as much nowadays, except on really exceptional landing. Last week on GVA-JFK with LX, the whole flight was turbulent. When we came into JFK we touched down so gracefully that only the real aviation buffs (i.e. me and maybe a few others) knew we were on the ground. I did not clap, but they started to. The rest of the cabin hadn't yet realized we were on the ground (that's how good it was) but once the thrust reverse came on and it registered to them, the applause was almost deafening. It was quite impressive to see the response to that.

TIS

YULYMX · Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:41 pm

On TS flight people always clap... could maybe unserstand landing in carabeen island being happy in january, but landing back in Canada at minus 30C BRRR

Only time i would have clap my heart's out would have been on that Transat flight landing in the Azorces on emergency landing Smile

teixeim · Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:57 pm

Speaking for flights to Brazil -

I'm half-Brazilian so most of my flight time is on flights to/from Brazil. Its hard to remember a flight arriving in Brazil without applause (Pan Am, Varig, Delta). I think its that people are so glad to arrive in Brazil that they applaud upon arrival. I've heard applause on some internal flights, but nowhere near as much as on on an international arrival.

I don't think the applause is so much for the pilot/crew as for the simple fact of arriving in a place people really wanted to be!

A5XX · Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:01 pm

Quoting Allessandro (Reply 11):
Men, I really hate it when people clap after landing... it's my job to do it safe and smooth... do you ever clap when you're in a restaurant and the waiter serves your meal?

Or, maybe it's just a way for the travelers, to thank the pilots and crew for a nice plane ride! Smile

It's a matter of courtesy.

Yves.

A332 · Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:03 pm

I have no clue why people clap on landing... I always roll my eyes when it does occur (not often in Canada, thank goodness).

Like give me a break... I don't clap at my waiter when he serves my dinner or clap at the grocer for bagging my selections... what the hell?

People are strange.

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