India will resume domestic flights from May 25. I noticed some skepticism about flying amid the #CoronaPandemic. Here’s a thread on why flights are the safest mode of transportation and why you should #KeepTrustinAirTravel.
1. Health and hygiene inside the cabin are ensured using multiple highly efficient airflow and filtration systems. The constant “downward” wash of air @ 1 metre/sec reduces the risk of cross-contamination. There is no right-to-left or front-to-back air flow.
2. Cabin air is fully filtered and renewed every 2-3 minutes. At 10,000m cruise altitude, air is very dry, very cold (-50 degrees) but the air is controlled (temperature, pressure, oxygen & humidity) before being injected back into the cabin.
3. Air is sucked out through vents on the floor & transported through highly efficient HEPA filters that flush out 99.95% to 99.97% of particles, including (relatively big) #Coronavirus.
4. As a result air in cabin is very clean, comparable with that of the best of hospitals.
4. As a result air in cabin is very clean, comparable with that of the best of hospitals.
5. Overall exposure is much lower because rail & car travel can take 10 times longer than a flight to a far-off destination.
6. The air inside is always of better quality when the cabin doors are opened after a flight than when the doors are closed before a flight takes off.
6. The air inside is always of better quality when the cabin doors are opened after a flight than when the doors are closed before a flight takes off.
7. Of course, measures to ensure the health and safety of air travel also need to focus on end-to-end passenger experience, not just during flights — namely, wearing masks, screening and managing passengers before they board and disinfecting surfaces and cabins.
Gald to see the interest in the thread and the questions asked, especially by @SukumarMehta1. I will try to answer:
1. The COVID-19 virus is approx 0.125 micron (125 nanometers) in diameter. The particle-size range that HEPA filters capture is 0.01 micron (10 nm) and above.
1. The COVID-19 virus is approx 0.125 micron (125 nanometers) in diameter. The particle-size range that HEPA filters capture is 0.01 micron (10 nm) and above.
2. Most of us think filters work like nets. They don’t. Particles as small as the SARS-COV2 virus get captured using a mechanism called “diffusional interception”.
3. You can easily google the average air quality in hospitals and compare.
3. You can easily google the average air quality in hospitals and compare.
4. The cabin air system delivers roughly 50% outside air and 50% filtered, recirculated air. As said before, the air circulation is continuous.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for reading.
