6 things pilots notice when they fly as passengers that you probably miss

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

While many travelers tune out safety briefings, pilots understand how important they can be.

• Airline pilots are trained to be attentive when they're on planes so that they will notice details that slip by the average passenger.
• Some of these details have serious safety implications.

For the average person, air travel is an opportunity to sleep, work, read, or watch a movie with fewer distractions than you'd find on the ground.

But for airline pilots and aviation experts, the experience can be different. Pilots and experts are trained to be attentive on planes, so even when they don't have to fly the plane and can sit in the main cabin, they'll notice things that other passengers don't.

We interviewed two airline pilots and collected responses from a Quora thread to find out what pilots notice when they're flying in the main cabin.

Here's what they said.