The plane continued to descend, but leveled off to an angle of descent of 3° degrees for approximately 2 miles. How many feet did they drop in altitude (d)? Round to the nearest 10th.
ANSWER: Plane dropped 6097 feet in altitude. BECAUSE: An airplane is at point A from where it continued to descend by 30° for an approximate distance of 2 miles ∠ACB = Angle of descent = 30° Distance BC = 2 miles Let the plane dropped the altitude = h miles Now tan 30° =
h = 1.155 miles h ≈ 1.16 miles Since 1 mile = 5280 feet 1.15 miles = 5280×1.16 feet = 6097 feet Therefore, the plane dropped by 6097 feet vertically.
