BBC - Autos - The secret language of flight attendants

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Blair","PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","CreationDateTime":"2016-08-16T02:54:58.961259Z","Entity":"author","Guid":"7d5b999c-2237-483a-bbe2-2c04f5bc1863","Id":"wwautos/author/beth-blair","ModifiedDateTime":"2016-08-16T02:54:58.961259Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"beth-blair"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2016-08-16T02:54:58.961259Z","Entity":"author","Guid":"7d5b999c-2237-483a-bbe2-2c04f5bc1863","Id":"wwautos/author/beth-blair","ModifiedDateTime":"2016-08-16T02:54:58.961259Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"beth-blair"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:author:wwautos/author/beth-blair","_id":"5852876d1307c19c0f4285bd"}],"BodyHtml":"<p><strong>Have you ever eavesdropped on an airline cabin crew</strong>, and wondered the meanings of their jargon? What does “cross-check” mean? Or \"all-call\"? And what about when they mention taking their “jump seats” during turbulence — are they preparing to strap on parachutes and jump out of the aircraft? The airline world has its own shoptalk and jargon, and listening passengers can discover an entirely new language.</p><p>We’ll let you in on some of the obscure terminology heard before and during a flight.</p><p><strong><em>\"Prepare doors for departure/arrival.\"</em></strong><br />In an emergency situation, evacuation slides — which stow in a housing at the bottom of each aircraft door — are designed to automatically deploy with a blast of compressed carbon dioxide and nitrogen in just six seconds flat. But they won’t work if a crew member hasn’t “armed\" the door: that is, pushed a lever on the door that connects the slide to the sill. Doors must be prepared, or armed, before a plane leaves, and disarmed upon arrival.</p><p>Depending upon the make and model of aircraft, this can mean lowering or raising a lever with one hand, or physically bending over and securing a bar to the floor latches. Some older aircraft require a strap to be placed across the cabin door’s windows, so employees greeting the aircraft from the jet bridge know whether the slide is engaged or not. Door safety is imperative: unsuspecting gate agents could accidentally open an armed door and have a slide pop out onto them and into the bridge.</p><p><strong><em>\"Cross-check\" and \"cross-check complete.\"</em></strong> <br />After flight attendants prepare for arrival or departure, the aircraft’s doors need to be cross-checked — airline-speak for double-checked by another flight attendant. Sometimes you will hear, “Doors are armed and cross-check complete” which verifies the doors are engaged and ready for an evacuation in the event of an emergency. Some airlines' cross-checks are said over the PA and others are verified via the private intercom.</p><p><strong><em>\"All-call.\"</em></strong><br />Airlines have different procedures for flight attendants to verify their cross-checks. Sometimes it's done over the PA system; other times it's requested privately. There's where phrases such as \"standby for all-call\" come in. This means the inflight crew calls in from their assigned positions via the telephone intercom, conference-style.</p><p><strong><em>\"Jump seat.\"</em></strong> <br />This term refers to the small seats flight attendants take during takeoff, landing, and turbulence. When he or she stands up, the seat automatically closes, or “jumps.\"</p><p><strong><em>\"Bulkhead.\"</em></strong><br />The bulkhead is the dividing wall on an aircraft, usually found ahead of the first row one. It separates the cabin seating from the galley or lavatory. (Some passengers appreciate these rows due to the extra legroom.)</p><p><strong><em>\"Extender.\"</em></strong><br />Passengers must have seat belts fastened before the aircraft is pushed back from the gate for departure. But what about larger passengers who cannot connect the buckle and the tongue of a standard lap belt? They receive a seatbelt extension — “extender” for short — which augments belt length by about 25 inches.</p><p><strong><em>\"Spinner.\"</em></strong><br />Passengers who arrive at the last moment and don’t have a seat assignment are occasionally told by a gate agent to board the aircraft and find an empty seat. This can result in a flustered passenger standing in the aisle, spinning as they search. You may hear a flight attendant call their cohort on the intercom or announce over the PA to a crew member, “We have a spinner mid-cabin. Are there any seats in the back?”</p><p><strong><em>\"Demo.\"</em></strong><br />While demo is usually short for demonstration, flight attendants use the term to refer to the pre-flight passenger safety briefing. Fun fact: Flight attendants use a seatbelt extender during the demo to illustrate the act of fastening and unfastening their seatbelts.</p><p><strong><em>\"Deadhead.\"</em></strong><br />Jerry Garcia fans need not get excited. Deadhead is the term for a crew member who is on duty, but flying as a passenger, heading home after a flight or to another airport to catch one. If a crew member calls out sick, the airline’s crew scheduling system will “deadhead” a pilot or flight attendant to the city to replace the absent employee.</p><p><strong><em>\"Redeye.\"</em></strong><br />This unpleasant term refers to an overnight flight. For crew-members, they are the graveyard shift of the air. While staying up all night can be tedious for new flight attendants who are not used to it, these routes can also mean easy service and plenty of time for galley gossip since most passengers sleep.</p><p><strong><em>\"Equipment.\"</em></strong><br />For some unknown reason, an aircraft in the airline industry is called \"equipment.\" “Equipment looks good\" means the plane has no issues or mechanical problems. On the other hand, “We are delayed because we need an equipment swap\" is often met with groans.</p><p><strong><em>\"Runners.\"</em></strong> <br />\"We’re waiting for runners\" means \"we have passengers coming from another flight that was late.\" Read: they are likely sprinting through the airport. If flight attendants use this term with each other, it means they need to get the passengers’ bags stowed and the people seated as fast as possible so they can depart on time. Note: Some airlines will hold for runners. Others aren’t so kind.</p><p><strong>BONUS:</strong></p><p><strong><em>The chimes</em>.</strong> <br />Passengers can try and guess the meaning of those various chimes heard when flying, but we should warn you that the number of “dings” means different things on different airlines. Sometimes the chimes mean the plane is going above or below 10,000 feet. Other times it’s a warning of choppy air ahead.</p><p><strong><em>The call button</em>.</strong> <br />Other times, that “ding” means a call button’s been pressed. Some flight attendants call this an abuse button, especially when passengers overuse their authority by acting as if they are the only person on board. Call buttons are acceptable to use when passengers truly need something, like help with a drink spill, or they feel sick and need assistance. Call button etiquette dictates passengers to wait until everyone else has been served before requesting seconds. Warning: Parents can expect to get the stink-eye if they allow their toddler to use the call button as a musical toy.</p><p><strong><em>That mysterious flight attendant telephone</em>.</strong> <br />As for the secret chatter the flight attendants have on the intercom with the pilots and each other, that also varies, covering topics like coffee, bathroom breaks, wheelchairs, delays, cabin temperature, weather — sometimes even sports scores that could be shared with Wi-Fi-less passengers.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p044wfwb\"}}</p><p><em>Beth Blair is a <a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151102-meet-the-flight-attendant-who-spreads-joy-in-the-skies\">former flight attendant</a> and a <a href=\"http://thevacationgals.com/\">freelance writer</a>. </em></p><p><em>If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/BBCAutos#\">Facebook</a> page or message us on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbc_autos\">Twitter</a>.</em></p><p><em>And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “<a href=\"http://pages.emails.bbc.com/subscribe/\">If You Only Read 6 Things This Week</a>”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Autos, Future, Earth, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.</em></p>","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"","CalloutPosition":"","CalloutSubtitle":"","CalloutTitle":"","Campaign":null,"Collection":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":[{"Content":{"FileSizeBytes":163347,"MimeType":"image/jpeg","SourceHeight":800,"SourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://deltaorigin.bbc.co.uk/images/live/p0/13/nm/p013nm5c.jpg","SourceWidth":1200,"SynopsisLong":"The Chevrolet MyLink system, as previewed on the 2014 Impala. (General Motors)","SynopsisMedium":"The Chevrolet MyLink system, as previewed on the 2014 Impala. (General Motors)","SynopsisShort":"The Chevrolet MyLink system, as previewed on the 2014 Impala. 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views over Niagara Falls"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p036ykvp","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p036ykvp","_id":"5866b9db1307c19c0f4eb5a9"},{"Content":{"FileSizeBytes":103884,"MimeType":"image/jpeg","SourceHeight":1080,"SourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://deltaorigin.bbc.co.uk/images/live/p0/36/yk/p036ykrd.jpg","SourceWidth":1920,"SynopsisLong":"(Credit: Adam Berry/Getty)","SynopsisMedium":"A flight attendant waits for passengers to board the plane (Credit: Adam Berry/Getty)","SynopsisShort":"A flight attendant waits for passengers to board the plane, flying, stewardess","TemplateUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/$recipe/images/live/p0/36/yk/p036ykrd.jpg","Title":"A flight attendant waits for passengers to board the plane"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p036ykrd","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p036ykrd","_id":"5866b9d91307c19c0f4eb5a4"},{"Content":{"FileSizeBytes":215355,"MimeType":"image/jpeg","SourceHeight":1080,"SourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://deltaorigin.bbc.co.uk/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036ylrg.jpg","SourceWidth":1920,"SynopsisLong":"(Credit: Beth Blair)","SynopsisMedium":"Flight attendant Beth Blair is living her childhood dream (Credit: Beth Blair)","SynopsisShort":"Flight attendant Beth Blair is living her childhood dream, flying, airplane","TemplateUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/$recipe/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036ylrg.jpg","Title":"Flight attendant Beth Blair is living her childhood dream"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p036ylrg","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p036ylrg","_id":"5866c11a1307c19c0f4eb9bf"},{"Content":{"FileSizeBytes":530928,"MimeType":"image/jpeg","SourceHeight":1080,"SourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://deltaorigin.bbc.co.uk/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036yllt.jpg","SourceWidth":1920,"SynopsisLong":"(Credit: Rob Brewer/Flickr/CC-BY-SA-2.0)","SynopsisMedium":"The airplane wings are worn as a badge of pride (Credit: Rob Brewer/Flickr/CC-BY-SA-2.0)","SynopsisShort":"The airplane wings are worn as a badge of pride, flight attendant, flying","TemplateUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/$recipe/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036yllt.jpg","Title":"The airplane wings are worn as a badge of pride"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p036yllt","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p036yllt","_id":"58676e851307c19c0f4f1b26"},{"Content":{"FileSizeBytes":199076,"MimeType":"image/jpeg","SourceHeight":1080,"SourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://deltaorigin.bbc.co.uk/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036ylxy.jpg","SourceWidth":1920,"SynopsisLong":"(Credit: Mutlu Kurtbas/iStock)","SynopsisMedium":"Flight attendants strive for passenger happiness (Credit: Mutlu Kurtbas/iStock)","SynopsisShort":"Flight attendants strive for passenger happiness, flying, airplane","TemplateUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/$recipe/images/live/p0/36/yl/p036ylxy.jpg","Title":"Flight attendants strive for passenger happiness"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p036ylxy","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p036ylxy","_id":"5866b9db1307c19c0f4eb5aa"}],"AssetSelect":"","AssetVideoIb2":null,"AssetVideoMps":null,"Author":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"","Email":[],"Links":null,"Name":"Beth Blair","PrimaryVertical":"wwtravel"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-11-02T14:46:38.131034Z","Entity":"author","Guid":"664451b7-745e-46e4-ba3d-28b0c34210b1","Id":"wwtravel/author/beth-blair","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-11-02T14:46:38.131034Z","Project":"wwtravel","Slug":"beth-blair"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:author:wwtravel/author/beth-blair","_id":"585287731307c19c0f428c4c"}],"BodyHtml":"<p>Once, when I was a kid, I was waiting for my grandmother to arrive at New Orleans airport when an airline crew sailed by pulling suitcases on wheels, a new invention back in the late 1980s. There was something exquisite about the way they confidently walked in their starched navy uniforms. The crew’s smiles and casual conversation about New York and Paris especially caught my attention. As the group drifted out of sight, I knew at that moment that I wanted to be part of their world. And one day, I would be – as a flight attendant.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036yllt\"}}</p><p>The signs that I was destined to fly were always there. My mother once asked me what item from nature I would be if I could. Without hesitation, I replied, “A cloud, because they are always moving and never stay the same.” My choice of heroines also reflected my future calling. Wonder Woman was an obvious favourite – surely, I thought, there’s nothing better than flying and having super powers.</p><blockquote><p> There’s nothing better than flying and having super powers </p></blockquote><p>Fast-forward a dozen years, and there I was looking down from a Boeing 727. The pinned airline wings I wore over my heart were a proud symbol of my successful flight attendant training as well as my new employment with a charter airline that flew vacationers to exotic beach destinations and sports teams to their next game. My world had opened up, and for the first time in my life, I needed a passport for my adventures.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ym0r\"}}</p><p>On one of my first flights, our plane had moved a little too close to Cuba’s airspace and we were being asked to reroute. As we started our detour, the captain’s voice boomed over the cabin speaker calling out the then off-limits country for US travellers in the distance. Below us were a handful of smaller islands surrounded by turquoise water, a sight my 22-year-old eyes had never beheld.</p><p>I was home.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ylbj\"}}</p><p>While my airline employment changed over the years, the exhilaration of observing the world from above never ceased. Sometimes, the views were iconic, such as when passing over Missouri’s <a href=\"http://www.gatewayarch.com\">St Louis Gateway Arch</a>, getting a bird’s-eye view of the <a href=\"http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/\">Hoover Dam</a> on the border of Arizona and Nevada and seeing the aurora borealis as we approached the Canadian city of Calgary. Just a few years ago, I worked an evening flight into Buffalo, New York, that soared over <a href=\"https://www.niagarafalls.ca\">Niagara Falls</a>. Seeing the dazzling, gushing waterfalls from such a unique perspective reminded me how lucky I was to have a window on the world.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ylvj\"}}</p><p>Other times, the views were more unexpected. Once I saw a boy, about age nine, racing our plane on his rusty blue bike along the chain-link fence that lined a small Dominican airport runway. Eventually we outflew him, and he waved goodbye as we lifted off the ground. Another time I experienced a much more sombre sight, when flying over Manhattan just two weeks after the fateful 9/11 attacks. The skyline wasn’t recognisable at first glance and the city was still smouldering. That time, instead of excitement, a quiet reflection set in.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036yl8r\"}}</p><p>While I no longer work as a flight attendant, I still recall some of the most powerful and memorable moments I’ve had – most of which came from interactions inside the cabin.</p><p>“This is for you,” said the lady in 15F. Her mascara was smudged and her eyes looked weary. In my hand she placed a perfectly ripe peach. With her well-manicured hands, she held the crinkling paper bag filled with fruit ever so gently, yet securely – much like a mother would hold an infant. “It’s from my son’s tree. He planted it when he was little.”</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ykvp\"}}</p><p>Flight attendants learn quickly to tap into passengers’ moods, often observing specific people’s behaviour throughout the flight without them even knowing. I knew in my heart, upon this woman’s initial greeting, that her journey was a sad one, so I checked on her regularly and offered her tissues without her asking. My hunch was confirmed when I later overheard her tell a seatmate that her son had unexpectedly passed away.</p><blockquote><p> Flight attendants learn quickly to tap into passengers’ moods </p></blockquote><p>The chance to make a difference comes often when you see hundreds of faces every day. Singing Happy Birthday to unsuspecting passengers, playing tic-tac-toe with bored children and listening to lonely travellers talk about the “good old days” are just a few of the ways I’ve tried to bring joy to flying.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ykrd\"}}</p><p>One day, my co-workers decided to play a joke on me by telling the cabin that I had been nominated Flight Attendant of the Month and that I was out on parole for good behaviour from a women’s detention centre. In the spirit of good fun, I played along, but one couple revealed to me later that I had inspired them and given them hope: their daughter had ended up in trouble and was serving time.</p><p>Most other times, I tried to help passengers with their more basic needs, such as offering to watch babies while the mother used the lavatory, or sharing my lunch with passengers who forgot to pack snacks for their long day of flying. Responding to travellers’ needs comes naturally to me, but as an extrovert, my favourite thing to do is point out landmarks, which often leads to interesting conversations.</p><p>On a return flight to my current hometown airport, Minneapolis-St Paul International, I flew as a passenger and was seated next to a teenage boy. We never exchanged more than a hello, as he slept most of the flight, but he awoke during our descent and asked about the local weather.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ylxy\"}}</p><p>“Do you visit Minnesota often?” I asked.</p><p>“No, this is my first time,” he said. “My family is going to Mall of America.”</p><p>I glanced outside and grinned. “Well, there it is now.” He stretched over me to see the sprawling oversized shopping mall – the largest in the US – on our left.  </p><p>“That’s it?” he asked exuberantly.</p><p>I nodded yes.</p><p>He let out an unexpected “Yahooooo!” and said, “Wow! I’ve wanted to see the Mall of America since I was a little kid and now I’m seeing it from the sky. This is my dream come true!”</p><p>He was beaming. “Wait, how did you know it was the mall? There wasn’t a sign,” he said as our wheels touched down.</p><p>I raised my eyebrows and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I have super powers.”</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p036ylrg\"}}</p>","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"","CalloutPosition":"","CalloutSubtitle":"","CalloutTitle":"","Campaign":null,"Collection":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":[],"Campaign":null,"CollectionOverrides":null,"CollectionType":"column","Description":"","Name":"Why I Love to Fly","Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwtravel","Title":"Why I Love to Fly","CreationDateTime":"2015-10-19T21:27:49.001377Z","Entity":"collection","Guid":"39053160-4b6f-44f0-86a0-d6009264608e","Id":"wwtravel/column/why-i-love-to-fly","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-10-19T21:28:42.777991Z","Project":"wwtravel","Slug":"column/why-i-love-to-fly"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-10-19T21:27:49.001377Z","Entity":"collection","Guid":"39053160-4b6f-44f0-86a0-d6009264608e","Id":"wwtravel/column/why-i-love-to-fly","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-10-19T21:28:42.777991Z","Project":"wwtravel","Slug":"column/why-i-love-to-fly"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:collection:wwtravel/column/why-i-love-to-fly","_id":"585287721307c19c0f428a5f"}],"DisableAdverts":false,"DisplayDate":"2015-11-03T01:00:00Z","Geolocation":null,"HeadlineLong":"Meet the flight attendant who spreads joy in the skies","HeadlineShort":"What I learned from the skies","HideRelated":false,"Horizontal":null,"Intro":"","IsSyndicated":true,"Location":null,"Option":null,"Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwtravel","Programme":null,"RelatedStory":null,"RelatedTag":null,"StoryType":"image","SummaryLong":"Views from above can bring sheer excitement to travel. But for this seasoned flight attendant, the love of flying often has more to do with what she brings to it.","SummaryShort":"A flight attendant’s truth about 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Images)","TemplateUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/$recipe/images/live/p0/3n/yb/p03nybrn.jpg","Title":"GettyImages-486276726.jpg"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Entity":"","Guid":"","Id":"p03nybrn","ModifiedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","Project":"","Slug":""},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:image:p03nybrn","_id":"5868dc221307c19c0f4fde52"}],"AssetSelect":"","AssetVideoIb2":null,"AssetVideoMps":null,"Author":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"<p>Jack is the presenter of <a href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsnb\">Science in Action on the BBC World Service</a>.\n He trained as a mechanical engineer (with automotive and aeronautic \ndesign) before becoming a journalist. He has worked at the BBC for over a\n decade and has reported from areas as diverse as war zones and \ntechnology shows</p>","Email":[],"Links":null,"Name":"Jack Stewart","PrimaryVertical":"wwautos"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:42Z","Entity":"author","Guid":"efb5681a-5e08-4fa1-a0a3-e43edc0ae950","Id":"wwautos/author/jack-stewart","ModifiedDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:42Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"jack-stewart"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:author:wwautos/author/jack-stewart","_id":"5852876e1307c19c0f42863e"}],"BodyHtml":"<p>On 3 September 2015, China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II with a <a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34125418\">fairly stunning display of its military might</a>, parading hundreds armoured fighting vehicles and some 12,000 troops from the normally secretive People’s Liberation Army through Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Many of these vehicles had never appeared in public and a notable theme — one that to many eyes came as a big surprise — was the Army’s use of dramatic ‘digital’ camouflage patterns. The Chinese pageant featured columns of military vehicles covered in pixelated squares, some in shades of green and khaki, others in outlandish schemes of blue, white and black.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p03ny4b2\"}}</p><p>The pattern, which resembles the blocky graphics from the computer game <a href=\"https://minecraft.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Minecraft</a>, is a stark contrast to traditional variegated “organic” camo designs that militaries have employed since the 19th Century — schemes that use blotches of complementary colours to mimic foliage and other natural features. The boldly pixelated camo, which despite some initial reluctance has seen increasing use by military forces around the world, seems counterintuitive; nothing in nature is so rigidly shaped. But it does work, and its vastly improved performance even came as a surprise to the man — a US Army officer — credited with developing it 40 years ago.</p><p>“Well when I looked at the data I think my observation was something on the order of ‘holy crap’,” recalled now-retired Lieutenant Colonel Timothy R O'Neill, PhD, when we asked him about early tests of the camo.</p><p>In the late 1970s O’Neill suggested to the US Army that square blocks of colour would disguise an armoured fighting vehicle better than large blotches. His idea was to build a pattern that would work no matter how far the vehicle is from the observer. Large patterns work well at long distances, and small patterns are better at close range. But patterns made from small squares, or pixels, can be painted to mimic both. Close up, the small patches mimic natural patterns on the scale of leaves on a tree, but from farther away, the clusters of squares create a macro texture that blends with branches, trees and shadows.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p03nyb6c\"}}</p><p>“Computer graphics were starting to come to the fore at that time — manipulated digital images,” O’Neill says. “Some people were doing work with what's called coarse quantisisation, which is simply breaking things down into squares. And it occurred to me that this would be a good way to try to imagine the texture of a background.”</p><p>Eventually O’Neill got together with three or four friends, and for about $100 did a test of digital — or what he prefers to call “texture match” — camouflage. They painted an engine-less armoured personnel carrier using a two-inch roller — and squares were the easiest shapes to paint as well as model with a computer. They posed it for pictures at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the US state of Maryland. (Here are the <a href=\"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/raw/p03nxg80.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">before</a> and <a href=\"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/raw/p03nxg7f.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">after</a> shots he shared with us.)</p><p>The experiment exceeded expectations, but it took a long time for digital camouflage to catch on. In part that was because working out the best pattern and applying it to a vehicle was a highly labour-intensive process. (These days, computers and controlled robots can do the work.) But the greater challenge turned out to be convincing sceptical military officials that squares were better than blobs when it came to blending with a background.</p><p>“It really should have come to fruition in the late 70s,” says Guy Cramer, the President and CEO of the fantastically named <a href=\"http://www.hyperstealth.com/\" target=\"_blank\">HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp</a>. He is one of the leading designers of modern camouflage.</p><p>“The testing continued to show that digital was actually working better, but still you got the armchair quarterbacks, and people who don't know about camouflage jumping to the assumption that it can’t work, it shouldn’t work, and so it doesn’t work.”</p><p>The strategy is now in use to varying degrees by armed forces around the world. But the future of camouflage is likely to be even more sophisticated. Cramer is developing a version of digital camo that will actively change like a chameleon, which he calls SmartCamo. The downsides are that will likely be expensive, and require an energy source, but those are less of an issue for vehicles than individual soldiers.</p><p>“In applications where you have a powered vehicle, whether it be an aircraft, a ship or a ground vehicle, your best bet may be to actually be able to shift your camouflage colors and shift the pattern,” he says.</p><p>Beyond that, UK-based defence contractor BAE Systems has <a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-14788009\" target=\"_blank\">developed a thermal cloaking system</a> for armoured vehicles that can alter their look entirely by using heated pixels to change they way they appear to infrared imaging systems — cameras used to spot vehicles at night. The <a href=\"http://www.baesystems.com/en-us/feature/adativ-cloak-of-invisibility\" target=\"_blank\">cloaking system</a> can make a tank look like a car, or even a cow. Similarly, Mercedes-Benz <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1l2xaZN5Rk\" target=\"_blank\">made a B-Class Fuel Cell vehicle ‘disappear’ entirely</a> in a city environment using a camera on one side to feed an image to a “screen” on the other, comprised of flexible mats embedded with thousands of light-emitting diodes.</p><p>But the low-tech solution of coloured squares, developed in the 1970s, still remains the simplest and most effective form of camo. Both O’Neill and Cramer continue to work on refining it, and we can still see — or should that be <em>not</em> see — vehicles based on the same principles in use today.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p03nybrn\"}}</p><p><em>If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/BBCAutos\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a> page or message us on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbc_autos\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter</a>. And while you're at it, join the BBC Autos community on <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bbc_autos/\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram</a>.</em></p><p><em>And if you liked this story, </em><a href=\"http://pages.emails.bbc.com/subscribe/?ocid=aut.bbc.email.we.email-signup\" target=\"_blank\"><em>sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter</em></a><em>, called “</em><em>If You Only Read 6 Things This Week</em><em>”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Autos, Future, Earth, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.</em></p>","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"<p><img src=\"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/raw/p03ny45f.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"some text\" width=\"245\" height=\"138\" /><br />Another conundrum with the modern camouflage design seen during China's Victory Day parade is that the vehicles feature bright blue painted blocks. Why? Some experiments have been done with bluish tones to break up the shape of vehicles against the sky on flat terrain, or for use in icy or snowy areas. “If the vehicles are amphibious then they might have some concealment during their water-based maneuvers, but the trade off for being highly conspicuous on land is not worth having it permanently,” believes Guy Cramer of Hyperstealth Biotechnology. In this case, the blue scheme is likely there for decoration. It certainly made the parade a spectacle, but further muddies the murky world of military camo. <em>—JS</em></p>","CalloutPosition":"middle","CalloutSubtitle":"Why are the Chinese tanks bright blue?","CalloutTitle":"Science or spectacle?","Campaign":null,"Collection":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":[],"Campaign":null,"CollectionOverrides":null,"CollectionType":"column","Description":"Delving into the backstory of a car or feature – an exploration of the events and decisions that influenced the development process.","Name":"Evolution of Design","Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","Title":"Evolution of Design","CreationDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:33:01.009284Z","Entity":"collection","Guid":"90dcefae-cde9-44ce-ae12-38102fb28fc7","Id":"wwautos/column/evolution-of-design","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:33:01.009284Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"column/evolution-of-design"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:33:01.009284Z","Entity":"collection","Guid":"90dcefae-cde9-44ce-ae12-38102fb28fc7","Id":"wwautos/column/evolution-of-design","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:33:01.009284Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"column/evolution-of-design"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:collection:wwautos/column/evolution-of-design","_id":"585287711307c19c0f42892d"}],"DisableAdverts":false,"DisplayDate":"2016-03-24T12:10:49.112Z","Geolocation":null,"HeadlineLong":"The story behind China's 'Minecraft' military camo","HeadlineShort":"The story behind China's 'digital' camo","HideRelated":false,"Horizontal":null,"Intro":"Invented by a US Army officer in the 1970s, 'digital camouflage' is pixelating the modern war machine.","IsSyndicated":true,"Location":null,"Option":[{"Content":{"Description":"Apple News Publish: Select to publish, remove to unpublish. (Do not just delete or unpublish the story)","Name":"publish-applenews-system-1"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2016-02-05T14:32:31.186819Z","Entity":"option","Guid":"13f4bc85-ae27-4a34-9397-0e6ad3619619","Id":"option/publish-applenews-system-1","ModifiedDateTime":"2016-02-05T14:32:31.186819Z","Project":"","Slug":"publish-applenews-system-1"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:option:option/publish-applenews-system-1","_id":"585289d31307c19c0f43b18f"}],"Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","Programme":null,"RelatedStory":[{"Content":{"AssetCustom":"<img style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/705437955279290369/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-705437955279290369;1043138249'\" class=\"alwaysThinglink\"/><script async charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js\"><\/script>","AssetIbroadcast":null,"AssetImage":[],"AssetImagePromo":[],"AssetInfographic":"","AssetInline":[],"AssetSelect":"customEmbed","AssetVideoIb2":null,"AssetVideoMps":null,"Author":[],"BodyHtml":"<p>The Ajax of Greek mythology was no pushover. He was the warrior's warrior: an enormous, fearless brute of a man, but also the most agile and cunning of fighters. It's no wonder why <a href=\"http://www.generaldynamics.uk.com/\">General Dynamics UK</a> took his name for its new armoured fighting vehicle. Created for the British Army and unveiled on 15 September at the 2015 Defence and Security Equipment International (<a href=\"http://www.dsei.co.uk/\">DSEI</a>) show in London, the turreted prototype arrives to replace the UK's long-serving FV107 Scimitar. And just as the <a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20150828-inside-the-oshkosh-jltv-the-us-militarys-new-hummer-replacement\">US military's new JLTV</a> is to the ageing Humvee it retires, the Ajax promises dramatically greater firepower, manoeuverability and survivability than its predecessor — a vehicle that entered service in 1971 with a 195-horsepower six-cylinder engine from Jaguar.</p><p>The Ajax moniker will apply to a family of tracked vehicles, each taking the name of a figure from ancient mythology. The turreted model you see here will be the most common version but, like the vehicles in Gerry Anderson's old Thunderbirds TV programme, there will be five non-turreted Ajax variants, each with different armoured body work and specialised battlefield role — including a repair and tow vehicle, a mobile front-line headquarters, and a plough-equipped engineering recon vehicle.</p><p>General Dynamics UK, the British arm of the US-based defence and aerospace company, last year won a £3.5b contract to build 589 Ajax vehicles for the British Army (245 of which will be the turrented model). The company will start delivering the vehicles in 2017, with the last of them rolling down the production line in 2024.</p><p>{\"image\":{\"pid\":\"p033z0hx\"}}</p><p><em>If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our </em><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/BBCAutos\"><em>Facebook</em></a><em> page or message us on </em><a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbc_autos\"><em>Twitter</em></a><em>.</em></p>","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"","CalloutPosition":"","CalloutSubtitle":"","CalloutTitle":"","Campaign":null,"Collection":[],"DisableAdverts":false,"DisplayDate":"2015-09-30T13:04:46.458Z","Geolocation":null,"HeadlineLong":"Meet Ajax, the British Army's new war machine","HeadlineShort":"Inside Britain's new war machine","HideRelated":false,"Horizontal":null,"Intro":"","IsSyndicated":true,"Location":null,"Option":null,"Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","Programme":null,"RelatedStory":null,"RelatedTag":[],"StoryType":"infographic","SummaryLong":"This UK-designed armoured fighting vehicle is tougher, more agile and smarter than the FV107 Scimitar it replaces.","SummaryShort":"The Ajax armoured fighting vehicle succeeds the British Army's FV107 Scimitar","Tag":[]},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-09-30T12:22:26.610136Z","Entity":"story","Guid":"1a55ae18-e488-4521-94af-5c212ca40d74","Id":"wwautos/story/20150930-meet-ajax-the-british-armys-new-war-machine","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-10-07T00:39:57.727997Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"20150930-meet-ajax-the-british-armys-new-war-machine"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:story:wwautos/story/20150930-meet-ajax-the-british-armys-new-war-machine","_id":"5863075d1307c19c0f4cc3a6"},{"Content":{"AssetCustom":"<img style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/693817076615217153/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-693817076615217153;1043138249'\" class=\"alwaysThinglink\"/><script async charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js\"><\/script>","AssetIbroadcast":null,"AssetImage":[],"AssetImagePromo":[],"AssetInfographic":"","AssetInline":null,"AssetSelect":"customEmbed","AssetVideoIb2":null,"AssetVideoMps":null,"Author":[],"BodyHtml":"<p>This initial contract calls for delivery of some 17,000 vehicles between 2018 and 2022, but it could ultimately be worth some $30b to the company, as the JLTV gradually replaces the US military's ageing fleet of 280,000 Humvees.</p><p>It's no small sum, but the Oshkosh JLTV is a thoroughly modern war machine, one that outperforms the Humvee in every way. Design requirements called for a new vehicle that was tougher, more capable, more versatile, easier to transport, easier to fix and above all, more protective of the soldiers and Marines who will operate it.</p><p>All it needs now is a catchy name. On that front, \"Hummer\" will be hard to beat.</p><p><em>If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our </em><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/BBCAutos\"><em>Facebook</em></a><em> page or message us on </em><a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbc_autos\"><em>Twitter</em></a><em>.</em></p>","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"","CalloutPosition":"","CalloutSubtitle":"","CalloutTitle":"","Campaign":null,"Collection":[],"DisableAdverts":false,"DisplayDate":"2015-08-28T17:41:19.938Z","Geolocation":null,"HeadlineLong":"Inside the Oshkosh JLTV, the US Army's Hummer replacement","HeadlineShort":"Inside America's new war machine","HideRelated":false,"Horizontal":null,"Intro":"It was a long and bumpy road for the Oshkosh Corporation and its L-ATV vehicle, but this week, the Wisconsin-based US defence contractor won a gruelling three-year competition. The prize? A $6.75b contract to build the US military's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the successor to the long-serving High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as the Humvee.","IsSyndicated":true,"Location":null,"Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","Programme":null,"RelatedStory":null,"RelatedTag":[],"StoryType":"infographic","SummaryLong":"The winner of an intense three-year competition, this snub-nosed beast is the military's new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.","SummaryShort":"The Oshkosh JLTV succeeds the long-serving military Humvee","Tag":[]},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-08-28T17:22:25.571172Z","Entity":"story","Guid":"73eb5770-b53d-4472-a226-e8a39c727516","Id":"wwautos/story/20150828-inside-the-oshkosh-jltv-the-us-militarys-new-hummer-replacement","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-08-30T12:31:17.251783Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"20150828-inside-the-oshkosh-jltv-the-us-militarys-new-hummer-replacement"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:story:wwautos/story/20150828-inside-the-oshkosh-jltv-the-us-militarys-new-hummer-replacement","_id":"5867b4121307c19c0f4f4084"},{"Content":{"AssetCustom":"","AssetIbroadcast":[],"AssetImage":[],"AssetImagePromo":null,"AssetInfographic":"","AssetInline":null,"AssetSelect":"gallery","AssetVideoIb2":null,"AssetVideoMps":null,"Author":[],"BodyHtml":"","BusinessUnit":"worldwide","CalloutBody":"","CalloutPosition":"","CalloutSubtitle":"","CalloutTitle":"","Campaign":null,"Collection":[],"DisableAdverts":false,"DisplayDate":"2015-05-27T00:00:00Z","Geolocation":null,"HeadlineLong":"Nine military vehicles you can buy","HeadlineShort":"War machines for sale","HideRelated":false,"Horizontal":null,"Intro":"","IsSyndicated":true,"Location":null,"Option":null,"Partner":null,"PrimaryVertical":"wwautos","Programme":null,"RelatedStory":null,"RelatedTag":[],"StoryType":"slideshow","SummaryLong":"Go-anywhere, survive-anything transportation can be had for a dear price. A desirable new outlier, though, remains strictly off-limits.","SummaryShort":"Nine military vehicles a civilian can buy – and one he can't","Tag":[]},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:30:44Z","Entity":"story","Guid":"40c8e3a2-84f7-4141-9586-7e7da60ac64b","Id":"wwautos/story/20131028-war-machines-for-sale","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-11-18T19:38:36.554136Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"20131028-war-machines-for-sale"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:story:wwautos/story/20131028-war-machines-for-sale","_id":"58674a8d1307c19c0f4f0776"}],"RelatedTag":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"","LinkUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://www.dbpedialite.org/things/2526804#id","Name":"Military Vehicles"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"9256b4e7-2720-4eef-96c6-43386f7b8442","Id":"tag/military-vehicles","ModifiedDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Project":"","Slug":"military-vehicles"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:tag:tag/military-vehicles","_id":"58528a951307c19c0f44203e"}],"StoryType":"image","SummaryLong":"Invented by a US Army officer in the 1970s, 'digital camouflage' is pixelating the modern war machine.","SummaryShort":"The pixelated look is a 21st Century take on the science of military concealment","Tag":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"","LinkUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://www.dbpedialite.org/things/2526804#id","Name":"Military Vehicles","CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"9256b4e7-2720-4eef-96c6-43386f7b8442","Id":"tag/military-vehicles","ModifiedDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Project":"","Slug":"military-vehicles"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"9256b4e7-2720-4eef-96c6-43386f7b8442","Id":"tag/military-vehicles","ModifiedDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:29:25Z","Project":"","Slug":"military-vehicles"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:tag:tag/military-vehicles","_id":"58528a951307c19c0f44203e"},{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"For vehicle design news, reviews and analysis, check BBC Autos.","LinkUrl":"/tags","Name":"Design","CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:28:52Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"86ae676d-a6f2-4ef5-b3ef-6f0e69c658ae","Id":"tag/design","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:34:09.530056Z","Project":"","Slug":"design"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2014-11-13T08:28:52Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"86ae676d-a6f2-4ef5-b3ef-6f0e69c658ae","Id":"tag/design","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-08-25T08:34:09.530056Z","Project":"","Slug":"design"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:tag:tag/design","_id":"58528a8f1307c19c0f441c4a"},{"Content":{"AssetImage":[],"Description":"","LinkUrl":"","Name":"Technology","CreationDateTime":"2013-02-27T16:53:04Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"6ef5e75c-4d0b-4b39-aac6-36dc110f8dc4","Id":"tag/technology","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-02-11T21:47:35.221592Z","Project":"","Slug":"technology"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2013-02-27T16:53:04Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"6ef5e75c-4d0b-4b39-aac6-36dc110f8dc4","Id":"tag/technology","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-02-11T21:47:35.221592Z","Project":"","Slug":"technology"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:tag:tag/technology","_id":"58528a971307c19c0f442157"}],"CreationDateTime":"2016-03-24T17:09:39.238448Z","Entity":"story","Guid":"b8a6f383-11c9-49c4-a15b-00510a61f469","Id":"wwautos/story/20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo","ModifiedDateTime":"2016-03-28T16:01:19.635836Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2016-03-24T17:09:39.238448Z","Entity":"story","Guid":"b8a6f383-11c9-49c4-a15b-00510a61f469","Id":"wwautos/story/20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo","ModifiedDateTime":"2016-03-28T16:01:19.635836Z","Project":"wwautos","Slug":"20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:story:wwautos/story/20160324-the-story-behind-chinas-minecraft-military-camo","_id":"586843421307c19c0f4f8e6a"}],"RelatedTag":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"Buses, trains, transport services, infrastructure and urban planning","LinkUrl":"","Name":"Public Transport"},"Metadata":{"CreationDateTime":"2015-09-03T15:52:34.741807Z","Entity":"tag","Guid":"903c3477-53b9-4e74-acf0-8d5934b611e9","Id":"tag/public-transit","ModifiedDateTime":"2015-09-03T15:52:34.741807Z","Project":"","Slug":"public-transit"},"Urn":"urn:pubstack:jative:tag:tag/public-transit","_id":"58528a951307c19c0f44203a"}],"StoryType":"image","SummaryLong":"'Arm doors, cross-check and all-call'? A former flight attendant helps decode cabin-crew jargon.","SummaryShort":"A former flight attendant explains door-arming, cross-checking and other jargon","Tag":[{"Content":{"AssetImage":null,"Description":"Buses, trains, transport services, infrastructure and urban planning","LinkUrl":"","Name":"Public 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A former flight attendant helps decode cabin-crew jargon.</p> </div> <div id="share-tools-top"> <ul class="share share--mobile share--article"> <li class="share-item"> <div class="share-item-lining"> <a class="share-button facebook" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fautos%2Fstory%2F20160816-the-secret-lingo-of-flight-attendants%3Focid%3Dww.social.link.facebook&t=The%20secret%20language%20of%20flight%20attendants" data-share-destination="facebook" data-tracking-id="facebook" target="_blank"> <span class="share-icon-wrapper share-icon-wrapper--social"> <span class="icon gelicon--facebook"></span> </span> <span class="share-item-text">Share on Facebook</span> </a> </div> </li> <li class="share-item"> <div class="share-item-lining"> <a class="share-button twitter" 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<span class="share-item-text">Share by Email</span> </a> </div> </li></ul> </div> </div>   <div class="mid-unit"> </div>   <div class="bottom-unit"> <div class="byline"> <span class="byline-heading"></span> <ul class="seperated-list source-attribution"> <li class="seperated-list-item source-attribution-author"><span class="index-body">By Beth Blair</span></li> </ul> <span class="publication-date index-body">16 August 2016</span> </div> <div class="body-content"> <p><strong>Have you ever eavesdropped on an airline cabin crew</strong>, and wondered the meanings of their jargon? What does “cross-check” mean? Or "all-call"? And what about when they mention taking their “jump seats” during turbulence — are they preparing to strap on parachutes and jump out of the aircraft? The airline world has its own shoptalk and jargon, and listening passengers can discover an entirely new language.</p><p>We’ll let you in on some of the obscure terminology heard before and during a flight.</p><p><strong><em>"Prepare doors for departure/arrival."</em></strong><br/>In an emergency situation, evacuation slides — which stow in a housing at the bottom of each aircraft door — are designed to automatically deploy with a blast of compressed carbon dioxide and nitrogen in just six seconds flat. But they won’t work if a crew member hasn’t “armed" the door: that is, pushed a lever on the door that connects the slide to the sill. Doors must be prepared, or armed, before a plane leaves, and disarmed upon arrival.</p><p>Depending upon the make and model of aircraft, this can mean lowering or raising a lever with one hand, or physically bending over and securing a bar to the floor latches. Some older aircraft require a strap to be placed across the cabin door’s windows, so employees greeting the aircraft from the jet bridge know whether the slide is engaged or not. Door safety is imperative: unsuspecting gate agents could accidentally open an armed door and have a slide pop out onto them and into the bridge.</p><p><strong><em>"Cross-check" and "cross-check complete."</em></strong> <br/>After flight attendants prepare for arrival or departure, the aircraft’s doors need to be cross-checked — airline-speak for double-checked by another flight attendant. Sometimes you will hear, “Doors are armed and cross-check complete” which verifies the doors are engaged and ready for an evacuation in the event of an emergency. Some airlines' cross-checks are said over the PA and others are verified via the private intercom.</p><p><strong><em>"All-call."</em></strong><br/>Airlines have different procedures for flight attendants to verify their cross-checks. Sometimes it's done over the PA system; other times it's requested privately. There's where phrases such as "standby for all-call" come in. This means the inflight crew calls in from their assigned positions via the telephone intercom, conference-style.</p><p><strong><em>"Jump seat."</em></strong> <br/>This term refers to the small seats flight attendants take during takeoff, landing, and turbulence. When he or she stands up, the seat automatically closes, or “jumps."</p><p><strong><em>"Bulkhead."</em></strong><br/>The bulkhead is the dividing wall on an aircraft, usually found ahead of the first row one. It separates the cabin seating from the galley or lavatory. (Some passengers appreciate these rows due to the extra legroom.)</p><p><strong><em>"Extender."</em></strong><br/>Passengers must have seat belts fastened before the aircraft is pushed back from the gate for departure. But what about larger passengers who cannot connect the buckle and the tongue of a standard lap belt? They receive a seatbelt extension — “extender” for short — which augments belt length by about 25 inches.</p><p><strong><em>"Spinner."</em></strong><br/>Passengers who arrive at the last moment and don’t have a seat assignment are occasionally told by a gate agent to board the aircraft and find an empty seat. This can result in a flustered passenger standing in the aisle, spinning as they search. You may hear a flight attendant call their cohort on the intercom or announce over the PA to a crew member, “We have a spinner mid-cabin. Are there any seats in the back?”</p><p><strong><em>"Demo."</em></strong><br/>While demo is usually short for demonstration, flight attendants use the term to refer to the pre-flight passenger safety briefing. Fun fact: Flight attendants use a seatbelt extender during the demo to illustrate the act of fastening and unfastening their seatbelts.</p><p><strong><em>"Deadhead."</em></strong><br/>Jerry Garcia fans need not get excited. Deadhead is the term for a crew member who is on duty, but flying as a passenger, heading home after a flight or to another airport to catch one. If a crew member calls out sick, the airline’s crew scheduling system will “deadhead” a pilot or flight attendant to the city to replace the absent employee.</p><p><strong><em>"Redeye."</em></strong><br/>This unpleasant term refers to an overnight flight. For crew-members, they are the graveyard shift of the air. While staying up all night can be tedious for new flight attendants who are not used to it, these routes can also mean easy service and plenty of time for galley gossip since most passengers sleep.</p><p><strong><em>"Equipment."</em></strong><br/>For some unknown reason, an aircraft in the airline industry is called "equipment." “Equipment looks good" means the plane has no issues or mechanical problems. On the other hand, “We are delayed because we need an equipment swap" is often met with groans.</p><p><strong><em>"Runners."</em></strong> <br/>"We’re waiting for runners" means "we have passengers coming from another flight that was late." Read: they are likely sprinting through the airport. If flight attendants use this term with each other, it means they need to get the passengers’ bags stowed and the people seated as fast as possible so they can depart on time. Note: Some airlines will hold for runners. Others aren’t so kind.</p><p><strong>BONUS:</strong></p><p><strong><em>The chimes</em>.</strong> <br/>Passengers can try and guess the meaning of those various chimes heard when flying, but we should warn you that the number of “dings” means different things on different airlines. Sometimes the chimes mean the plane is going above or below 10,000 feet. Other times it’s a warning of choppy air ahead.</p><p><strong><em>The call button</em>.</strong> <br/>Other times, that “ding” means a call button’s been pressed. Some flight attendants call this an abuse button, especially when passengers overuse their authority by acting as if they are the only person on board. Call buttons are acceptable to use when passengers truly need something, like help with a drink spill, or they feel sick and need assistance. Call button etiquette dictates passengers to wait until everyone else has been served before requesting seconds. Warning: Parents can expect to get the stink-eye if they allow their toddler to use the call button as a musical toy.</p><p><strong><em>That mysterious flight attendant telephone</em>.</strong> <br/>As for the secret chatter the flight attendants have on the intercom with the pilots and each other, that also varies, covering topics like coffee, bathroom breaks, wheelchairs, delays, cabin temperature, weather — sometimes even sports scores that could be shared with Wi-Fi-less passengers.</p><p><div class="inline-media inline-image"> <a data-replace-url="" data-anchor-title="Flight attendants" data-caption="" data-caption-title="" data-replace-image="true" data-is-portrait="false" class="replace-image" title="Flight attendants " href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/44/wf/p044wfwb.jpg"> View image of Flight attendants </a></div></p><p><em>Beth Blair is a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151102-meet-the-flight-attendant-who-spreads-joy-in-the-skies">former flight attendant</a> and a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://thevacationgals.com/">freelance writer</a>. </em></p><p><em>If you would like to comment on this or anything else you have seen on BBC Autos, head over to our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/https://www.facebook.com/BBCAutos">Facebook</a> page or message us on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/https://twitter.com/bbc_autos">Twitter</a>.</em></p><p><em>And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170101180600/http://pages.emails.bbc.com/subscribe/">If You Only Read 6 Things This Week</a>”. 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