I was on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Bangkok this time last year and noticed a lot of manoeuvring happening whilst we were over central Australia. Minutes later, an announcement from the flight deck mentioned that we were passing Uluru (Ayers Rock) and those on the left will be able to see it. Couldn't help wondering whether the pilots were manoeuvring for weather (unlikely as it was clear all the way to the ground) or that they were positioning the aircraft to give us a better look at Uluru from 36,000 ft! If this is so, then my hats off to them for making the effort!
Before this, the last time I heard a geographical landmark announcement from the flight deck was on a Qantas 707 in the 70's from Melbourne to Singapore. 4 hours after departure, the Captain came on the PA and announced that we were about to leave the Australian coast at Derby. As a young child, this impressed upon me just how big the Australian continent is, taking 4 hours of flying to cross from one end of the country to the other.
I like the geography lessons on flights, but then I guess, pilots on airliners are flying IFR where waypoints have no reference to visual references on the ground so if they're not interested in the geography themselves, then they probably wouldn't know too much about what's below.
Last edited by mingalababya; 17th Jul 2009 at 12:18.