WHEN looking out the window of a plane it can seem like you're the only aircraft around for miles.
However, the truth is that you're actually a lot closer to other flights than you might initially think.
A pilot and Tiktoker, who shares videos anonymously under the name Fly High (@flyhigh738) has revealed the scary truth about how much closer planes actually get to one another when in the sky.
In a video, the pilot, who looks to be flying a Ryanair plane, said: "When you travel by plane and think the sky is so big that you're alone up there, you're actually almost always flying so, so close to other planes.
"We're most of the time following standard airways, which are kind of motorways in the sky and we're only a distance of 1000ft, or 300 metres, from each other.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
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The footage showed the view from the cockpit, with planes flying close by over the top of the aircraft.
It left some of her followers terrified about what they had seen.
One wrote: "Information I did not need to know… scary and impressive."
Another said: "Too close for me."
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A third simply added: "That looks terrifying."
Flight training specialists The Baltic Aviation Academy (BAA) explained the rules in more thorough details in a post on their blog.
They wrote: "Commercial aircraft flying below 29,000 feet must maintain a vertical separation of 1,000 feet.
"Any higher and the separation increases to 2,000 feet, except in airspace where Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) applies.
"RVSM approval allows aircraft to fly with a vertical separation of 1,000 feet reduced from 2,000 feet."
RVSM was brought in between 1997 and 2005 as a means to increase airspace capacity.
It is now in place in all of Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, North America, South America, and over the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, according to Aviation site Skybrary.
BAA revealed that over the ocean, beyond radar coverage, the vertical separation minimum is also around 300m.
There are lots of rules in place to keep passengers aren't put in danger when flying.
Included in that are performance standards, which ensure planes remain safe even in the event of problems in mid-air.
For instance, different planes have their own ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards) ratings, which determines how far they can fly with only one engine, in case one fails.
Pilots are all aware of the rating, so they know how much time they have to locate a safe place within their ETOPS limits where they can radio for an emergency landing.
Another aspect of flight that terrifies some passengers is how much the wings bend in the air.
However, the wings are designed to have a huge degree of movement in them, so they can cope, especially during moments of strong turbulence.
Pilot, John Cox, told USA Today that Boeing 787 wings can bend upwards as much as 26 feet, much more than they'd ever bend during even severe turbulence.
He said: "Aircraft wings can flex much more than most people realise. During testing, the Boeing 787 wings flexed 26 feet upward before failing.
"Engineers calculate the maximum stress they anticipate a wing will experience in flight, then make it able to withstand 50 per cent more as a safety margin.
"Compared to earlier jets, today's aircraft have longer, thinner wings that are more flexible, more fuel-efficient and provide a softer ride."
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