Real airline pilot battles 'impossible' challenge on Microsoft Flight Simulator to see if his training pays off

What happens when an airline pilot swaps a real CRJ cockpit for Microsoft Flight Simulator?

That’s exactly what YouTuber Airforceproud95 set out to test in a recent video, where he invited Fabian, a certified CRJ pilot and aircraft mechanic, to try out a series of ‘impossible’ scenarios in the virtual skies.

Blindfolds, aircraft carriers, and wild weather all made an appearance as Fabian attempted to prove whether his years of training could transfer into a game.

As you can imagine, things got really dramatic and entertaining.

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Not the first time the YouTuber ‘kidnapped’ a pilot

The video starts innocently enough, with Fabian blindfolded and told he’ll be flying the same regional jet he commands in real life.

In case this seems familiar, this is not the first time YouTuber Airforceproud95 has ‘kidnapped’ a real airline pilot to test their skills.

He previously got his friend Emil, who flies the CRJ700 and CRJ900 in real life, to take on an ultra-difficult challenge on Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Back to Fabian, he quickly discovers that instead of lining up for a calm runway landing, he’s been dumped 35 miles off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Even better – or worse, if you’re him – he was told to attempt a landing on the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier.

Landing an F-18 on an aircraft carrier already takes a lot of precision, so landing the much larger regional jet was an extremely difficult challenge.

Impressively, even with fuel critically low and the ship angled in ways no commercial pilot trains for, Fabian coolly executes a go-around before sticking the landing.

Not bad for a plane that was never meant to touch carrier decks.

But the fun didn’t stop there.

Next up was one of the world’s trickiest airports: St. Barts, known for its short runway and dramatic approach over a hilltop.

Fabian managed not one, but two clean landings in the CRJ.

This was no small feat, considering most pilots would never dream of flying something that large into the island.

Airline pilot training prepares you for almost every scenario

The final challenge was straight out of a pilot’s nightmare: a thunderstorm over one of the world’s busiest airports, Chicago O’Hare, complete with 45-knot gusts, lightning strikes, and near-zero visibility.

As the simulated skies turned pitch black and turbulence rattled the aircraft, Fabian wrestled the jet down onto the runway with remarkable skill.

The landing earned him a solid ‘8.2 out of 10’ from Airforceproud95, who admitted the controls were practically fighting back against the pilot.

Evidently, the extensive training that airline pilots go through pays off, given that Fabian managed to overcome even some of the most outrageous scenarios ever on Microsoft Flight Simulator.

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