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This Beautiful Video Shows What It's Like to Land a Boeing 777 in New York City

Brendan Dorsey
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Brendan Dorsey is an Associate News Editor at TPG who covers nearly everything for TPG including aviation, credit cards, points, miles, ride-hailing services and more. He previously worked for TIME.
Jan. 05, 2018
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1 min read
Screen Shot 2018-01-05 at 3.40.32 PM
This Beautiful Video Shows What It's Like to Land a Boeing 777 in New York City
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Ever wondered what it's like to be in the cockpit of a jumbo jet on approach to one of the busiest airports in the world? What type of controls are required? What do the pilots have to communicate to the air traffic control tower? How thorough is the systems check before landing?

A fascinating video inside the cockpit of an Air France 777-200 shows us what it's like to land at New York's JFK airport. The glimmering lights of NYC are visible on approach to the airport that saw over 450,000 flights in 2016. The hundreds of cockpit instruments, controls and gauges glow against the silhouettes of the pilots.

You can see the pilot setting the aircraft's approach speed and hear the ATC's radio communication about other inbound and outbound flights. Autopilot shows its impressive functionality as the aircraft guides itself towards JFK — neither of the pilots place their hands on the flight sticks.

As the widebody Boeing approaches runway 31R, the aircraft's computer counts down the 777s altitude, eventually making a safe landing and taxiing towards a gate.