What Does This Black Triangle on Planes Mean?

On reddit, /u/Otherwise_Finger_166 asks what this symbol means. One joker suggests, "This side up," but the black triangle actually designates an important location called William Shatner's Seat.

The New York Post explains that it is from this location that aircraft crew can get the best view of the wing and thereby assess its condition. The presence of ice could necessitate a change of plans.

Why is it named after William Shatner? Before Star Trek, Shatner starred in a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone titled "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Shatner is an aircraft passenger sitting over the wing who sees a creature tearing up the plane. Prudent aircraft designers have clearly learned from that episode how important it is to get the best view of the wings.

-via Massimo


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Thank God someone is paying attention! California freeways are either 12 lanes wide and choked with too many cars or two lanes wide and filled with left-side drivers.
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I want to know, if you use the left lane to pass and are going 85 in a 65 to pass, does that driver get a (speeding) ticket for using the left lane to pass those that are going 65 in the right lane? They didn't bring that up in the video.
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This is not a one size fits all concept, though. The logic works best on uncrowded freeways with long distances between exits that are all on the same side of the road. In denser urban environments that are very crowded and which may have closely spaced exits on either side of the road, it is reasonable that slower drivers may have to position themselves on either the left or right.

Drivers of slower vehicles may be driving that way for a reason, like they have a passenger who has just been through surgery. Similarly, drivers of faster vehicles may also be driving that way for a reason, like there is an emergency where someone's life is in danger. Yes, we our knee jerk reaction will almost always be to assume that the person is a jerk, but if you assume they're doing what they're doing for good reason (which do exist!) you'll have a better experience. Things will still be annoying, but they'll feel less arbitrary or malicious and will start to seem like something where we're all cooperating to make things better.

Which is true! Driving works amazingly well, all things considered. We have a system where many, many vehicles regularly move together gracefully at very high speeds with almost no coordination between the participants. It's incredible that this works at all! Not to mention that providing concessions for slower or faster drivers now means that you, too, will have the right to drive slower or faster when you're in one of those situations yourself.

We're all in it together. Usually. (Admittedly, some people really are just jerks.)
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I like US highways, because people (mainly) are cruising and not rushing.
This way I could drive *with the flow* on the I95 around Boston at 75-80kph with a speed limit of 55 if I remember well.
who cares about going faster or slower 5mph when you can pass police cruiser with a speed 40% over the speed limit and getting no reaction?

Btw, in France if you go over 25mph the speed limit you loose your licence (administrative suspension), and if you go over 31mph, you loose your licence and they retain your car. And get points out of your 12 points licence...
I miss the States :)
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