A commercial airline pilot is flying at an altitude of 6.5 miles. To make a gentle descent for landing, the pilot begins descending toward the airport when still fairly far away.

If the plane’s path is to make an angle of 5 degrees with runway (without further adjustment), how far from the airport (measured on the ground) must the pilot begin descending?

Question

A commercial airline pilot is flying at an altitude of 6.5 miles.  To make a gentle descent for landing, the pilot begins descending toward the airport when still fairly far away.

If the plane’s path is to make an angle of 5 degrees with runway (without further adjustment), how far from the airport (measured on the ground) must the pilot begin descending?

anonymous · Answer

6.5 is opposite, x is adjacent. but when i do tangent (5), i get like -3.whatever, and multiply by the 6.5 which gives me -21, not in my answers, or if you divide by the 6.5 i get an incredibly small and improbable answer. however; 5 there is for 5 o   not 5 radians, make sure your calculator is in Degree mode, not Radians. He must start descend 5 feet above the ground.