How airplanes are put into hibernation during Covid-19

I recently got a message from one of you to write about how airplanes are parked and stored for a long time during this ongoing pandemic and it was a fairly interesting topic so I decided to write about it.

So, how are airplanes put into hibernation? Many of you probably thought that they just park the plane at a gate or stand and just leave them there until they need it but, you are wrong. If you do that, it risks the lives of whoever flies that plane afterwards. Well here are what airlines do to their airplanes during Covid-19:

1: They find a place to park the airplane, a gate, stand or even on the taxiways.

Airlines need to find a place to park their airplane for storage but you can't just park it randomly with hundreds of airplanes also trying to park for hibernation. The airport management team has to come up with a sophisticated plan to try to park as many airplanes as possible in the airport due to the rapid decline in air travel.

Image: Bloomberg

2: Cover up all holes in the airplanes such as the flaps or APU

Airlines must cover up all the holes in the airplanes so that no insects or birds can nest inside them and cause any structural damage to the airplane. Now, most of you may be wondering if an insect is dangerous to airplanes and yes, it is very dangerous. In fact it has happened before. In February 1966, Birgenair flight 301 had a fatal crash after a wasp had nested in a pitot tube. This is why we must be very careful in covering the holes.

Image: Aircraftcovers

3: Placing silica gel bags in the engine and the cabin

Do you know those little sachets that come with your shoes or clothes to suck up moisture? Well, airplanes need those too. They put these silica gel bags inside the engines and the cabin so that no moisture manages to enter the engines, damaging it and to prevent bacterial growth in the cabins

Image: The points guy

Now, this may seem simple but it actually takes 1 or 2 weeks to complete, and on top of this, they have to test the engines every week and also replace all 300+ silica gel bags! The next time you go on a trip, remember to say thank you to the ground staff, the true saviors of aviation! On that note, I hope you enjoyed the 50th ever Planeopedia article!

@2020 Planeopedia

Written by: Sohail Sawlani