Flying facts: How many of these do you think are true?

Although flying is an essential mode of everyday transport, there are still a number of interesting myths surrounding air travel that might make travelling by plane seem scarier than it really is.

Can cabin doors open while the plane is in the air? Does tomato juice taste better at altitude? And do aircrafts skip seat row number 13? These are some of the most common flying questions that we've asked the holiday deal experts at Travelzoo to help us sort from fact and fiction.

Some of the flying questions you've always wanted to ask were put to the test and the results will surprise you.

Have you always wondered why airlines overbook flights? If flight attendants have to meet specific height and weight restrictions? And what happens if a flight is struck by lightning? We have the answers!

If you want to know more about how safe flying really is from an industry expert, pilot Patrick Smith also recently revealed the many misunderstandings about flying in his new book Cockpit Confidential. The former airline pilot said that there's no need for travellers to worry about the cabin doors opening mid-flight. He wrote: "You cannot – repeat, cannot – open the doors or emergency hatches of an airplane in flight. You can't open them for the simple reason that cabin pressure won't allow it. Think of an aircraft door as a drain plug, fixed in place by the interior pressure."

When it comes to the strange noises planes makes, Smith said: "It's common to hear a loud, repetitive whirring sound emanating from the floorboards of Airbus planes. Sometimes it's a high-pitched whine; other times it's a stilted WOOF, WOOF, WOOF, like the noise a very agitated dog might make."

Click through our gallery to find out how many common flying questions you can answer...

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