Because the average commercial jet moves at about 465 mph stopping mid flight would kill everyone on board, as well as rip the plane to pieces. Otherwise we wouldn't need airports.
Why can't an aeroplane stop in mid-flight?
A plane stopping in mid air is not possible..sometimes when it feels like a plane is pulling back it means you are beginning your descent...a pilot would never shut down all engines while in the air...you wouldn't be alive to tell your story if that happened anyway!!
It would fall haha. It doesn't work like a helicopter
Ok, let's get this right.
The Gimli Glider is the nickname of an Air Canada aircraft that was involved in an unusual aviation incident. On July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767–233 wide body jetliner, ran out of fuel at an altitude of 12,500 metres (41,000 ft) above MSL (mean sea level), about halfway through its Montreal to Edmonton flight. The flight crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at an auto racing track that was previously RCAF Station Gimli, a Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
If a plane came to an immediate stop, the deceleration would kill all the passengers---same as when a car traveling at 70 mph hits a concrete wall.
If it slowed down, the wing would eventually lose all lift; and the plane it would simply drop like a rock and the deceleration would kill the passengers when it hit the ground.
Or it could glide to a landing with some luck and a good pilot.
Air Disasters Season 1 Episode 2
Because they do not levitate. Planes need thrust and lift to fly. Since you remove the thrust by stopping you no longer create the force that allows the lift.