Staff from Leeds-based airline Jet2 flew into Beeston’s Hugh Gaitskell Primary School to help Year 2 pupils with their current topic ‘Come Fly With Me.’
The children have been learning about the history of flight and how aeroplanes have developed over the decades.
Two pilots: Captain Stephen Wakeham and Senior First Officer Liam Garside; and two cabin crew: Jennifer Johnstone and Vicky Beecroft spoke to the children about flying aircraft and and aircraft safety.
In a lively question and answer session we found out, amongst other things, that:
- The crew’s plane can carry 235 passengers
- The plane, a Boeing 757, weighs 100 tonnes
- It carries 11,000 litres of fuel
- Jet2’s longest flight from Leeds is to New York
Asked what happens when a plane runs out of fuel, Capt Wakeham explained that planes need fuel to land so they make sure they never run out. They use maths to do a complicated calculation to make sure they put the right amount of fuel on board before they take off; and if something happened during the flight they would divert the flight to a nearby airport so that they could land safely.
Year 2 teacher Alice O’Boyle said:
“It was fantastic to have the team from Jet2 in school today. It’s really important to give the children real world experiences. Many of our children won’t have flown in a plane, but perhaps some of them will now become pilots when they are older.”
