flight control
Americannoun
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the direction of airplane movements, especially takeoffs and landings, by messages from the ground.
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the system by which this direction is done.
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the office from which this direction is done.
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the system by which the pilot of an airplane controls the movement of the airplane.
Etymology
Origin of flight control
First recorded in 1935–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Starliner slipped into that category, which includes Space Shuttle tragedies, because of a loss of flight control and other factors.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
The company also provides software for flight control and edge computing, and last July acquired Atlas Space Operations to improve its offerings on that front.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 28, 2026
The US subsequently charged Boeing with one count of criminal fraud conspiracy, accusing Boeing of deliberately concealing from regulators key information about its flight control software, which was implicated in the crashes.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
A laser cutter was poised halfway through carving out a flight control unit.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2024
Both crashes — killing 189 people in Indonesia in October 2018 and 157 people in Ethiopia four months later — were caused by flawed flight control software on the then-new jet.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2024
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
