{"id":34977,"date":"2024-04-25T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T11:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/many-think-they-can-land-plane\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T11:47:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T11:47:00","slug":"many-think-they-can-land-plane","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/many-think-they-can-land-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Think They Can Land a Plane"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Picture this: you&rsquo;re nestled comfortably in your airline seat cruising towards your holiday destination when a flight attendant&rsquo;s voice breaks through the silence: &ldquo;Ladies and gentlemen, both pilots are incapacitated. Are there any passengers who could land this plane with assistance from air traffic control?&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>If you think you could manage it, you&rsquo;re not alone. Surveys indicate about 30% of adult Americans think they could safely land a passenger aircraft with air traffic control&rsquo;s guidance. Among male respondents, the confidence level rose to nearly 50%.<\/p>\n\n<p>We&rsquo;ve all heard stories of passengers who saved the day when the pilot became unresponsive. For instance, in 2022, Darren Harrison managed to land a twin-engine aircraft in Florida &ndash; after the pilot passed out &ndash; with the guidance of an air traffic controller. However, such incidents tend to take place in small, simple aircraft. Flying a much bigger and heavier commercial jet is a completely different game.<\/p>\n\n<p>Takeoffs and landings are arguably the most difficult tasks pilots perform, and are always performed manually. Only on very few occasions, can a pilot use autopilot to land the aircraft for them. This is the exception, and not the rule.<\/p>\n\n<p>Landing is complicated, and requires having precise control of the aircraft&rsquo;s direction and descent rate. To land successfully, a pilot must keep an appropriate speed while simultaneously managing gear and flap configuration, adhering to air traffic regulations, communicating with air traffic control, and completing a number of paper and digital checklists.<\/p>\n\n<p>Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power, and adjust the rate of descent &ndash; ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway. On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n<p>Both takeoff and landing are far too quick, technical, and concentration-intensive for an untrained person to pull off. So, if you&rsquo;ve never even learned the basics of flying, your chances of successfully landing a passenger aircraft with air traffic control&rsquo;s help are close to zero.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"><em>Possible Preaching Angles:<\/em><\/h2>\n\n<p><strong><em>1) Pride; Self-confidence; Self-exaltation<\/em><\/strong><em> &ndash; This illustration speaks to the overconfidence of the human nature. We have been encouraged to overestimate our abilities and underestimate our shortcomings in today&rsquo;s culture; <strong>2) Criticism; Pastor; Minister<\/strong> &ndash; This could also apply to a church setting in which members criticize the performance of the pastor and leadership and often have the thought &ldquo;I could do their job so much better!&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[433],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3360,3436,3656,3717,3780,3848,3849,4350,4351,4420,4454,4469,4604,4704,4911,4918,4993,4994,5294],"tax_ctp_topics":[400],"class_list":["post-34977","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-ability","tax_ctp_tags-arrogance","tax_ctp_tags-conceit","tax_ctp_tags-criticism","tax_ctp_tags-difficulty","tax_ctp_tags-ego","tax_ctp_tags-egotism","tax_ctp_tags-leader","tax_ctp_tags-leadership","tax_ctp_tags-manhood","tax_ctp_tags-men","tax_ctp_tags-ministers","tax_ctp_tags-pastor","tax_ctp_tags-pride","tax_ctp_tags-self-confidence","tax_ctp_tags-self-exaltation","tax_ctp_tags-skill","tax_ctp_tags-slander","tax_ctp_tags-work-career"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Many Think They Can Land a Plane - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/many-think-they-can-land-plane\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Many Think They Can Land a Plane - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Picture this: you&rsquo;re nestled comfortably in your airline seat cruising towards your holiday destination when a flight attendant&rsquo;s voice breaks through the silence: &ldquo;Ladies and gentlemen, both pilots are incapacitated. Are there any passengers who could land this plane with assistance from air traffic control?&rdquo; If you think you could manage it, you&rsquo;re not alone. 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