Brains
Last week Qantas made the first test flight of the world’s longest flight, a 20-hour monster covering 10,000-miles direct from New York to Sydney, Australia, reports Forbes.
20-hours locked in a metal tube, potentially next to the neighbor from hell, sounds like most people’s worst nightmare. Qantas was conducting the test flight to research the effect the unprecedented flight time, across 15 different time zones, would have on crew and passengers.
40 crew members were on the flight which departed JFK on Friday night and arrived in Sydney on Sunday morning. Researchers were onboard assessing behaviors such as how much they move around the cabin, what they eat and how much they sleep. The airline aims to start selling tickets for the flight in 2022.
More fuel-efficient aircraft and passenger’s increasing desire for point to point transfers has meant that ultra-long flights are becoming more commonplace. But scientists were interested in the effects this latest flight would have on passengers. They were studying such things as:
- Deep Vein Thrombosis
- Dehydration
- Aircraft Type
- Radiation
Hate layovers, is a 20-hour direct flight something that would appeal to you? Or does the claustrophobic thought of being squeezed into a plane for 20-hours start you sweating?
