What a “Stall” is in aerodynamics and why it’s an emergency for airplanes
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Planes operate on the principle that airflow over the wings generates lift, which keeps the plane in the air. A stall occurs when there is not enough airflow to provide enough lift to the plane; that means the plane can no longer maintain altitude and will begin to descend, potentially uncontrollably. If the plane simply noses over towards the ground, that might not be a huge issue.
However, if the plane falls straight down in whatever orientation it’s in, or falls down backwards, then there’s a very real, immediate risk that the dive is not recoverable. The plane is designed to be flown and controlled in forward-flight; all the control surfaces (like the rudders and elevators and ailerons) that let the pilot control the plane are only designed to work when the air is moving from front to back of the plane. If the air is moving from the back to the front, those controls may not operate correctly. If they don’t operate correctly, the pilot cannot control the plane and therefore cannot recover from the stall/dive, which means the plane **will** crash.
If the plane noses over, the pilot has the ability to recover the control of the plane. However, an uncontrolled dive can still be dangerous; as the plane flies faster and faster downwards, it will be harder for the control surfaces to operate, since they are pushing against the air to turn/twist the plane around. If the dive is too fast, the control surfaces might not have enough power to actually control the plane, and the plane will simply nosedive straight into the ground. The pilot must regain control of the plane as soon as possible to prevent the airspeed from building up so much that they permanently lose control over the plane.
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