Retired KQ staffer explains how pilots generate excitement when flying over equator

Retired KQ staffer Alice Waweru, in an interview with Business Daily, recounted how pilots often used a common myth to generate excitement among passengers when the airplane was flying over the equator.

During her days as an air hostess, Alice recalled a specific incident when flying from the Netherlands to Kenya, and the captain announced that they would be crossing the equator in just 20 seconds.

According to Alice, they experienced turbulence while flying over the equator, and passengers jubilated in the cabin.

Alice Waweru alights from a KQ plane on her last day of working after serving the company for 38 years. Pulse Live Kenya

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"I found the KQ captains more relaxed and they used to fool the crew and the passengers. I remember one time we were flying from Amsterdam to Mombasa and the captain came on the PA (Passenger Announcement) and he told the passengers that we would be crossing the equator in the next 20 seconds.

"I looked at my colleague and we wondered why we never flew over the equator. We've never felt it and the countdown started and somehow we experienced turbulence on the aircraft and there was jubilation in the cabin," Alice narrated.

Alice, however, approached a KQ pilot one day and inquired why they don't cross the equator. He told her that they were simply playing along because the equator isn't visible during flight.

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She admitted that such incidents added fun to flying and that she thoroughly enjoyed her job, thanks to the pilots.

What is an equator?

The equator represents an imaginary line encircling the Earth's midsection.

Positioned equidistant between the North and South Poles, it effectively divides the Earth into two distinct halves, known as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

While crossing the Equator within the aircraft itself doesn't entail any significant changes, notable transformations occur outside of the plane.