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| quote: | Originally posted by VDub
No man. That would be the last reason for that plane to go down that way...
If it was the engines, the pilot would have glided down and done a water landing as well as declare an emergency on the radio...
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I think you have been reading too many emergency landing booklets stuffed on the back seat of airplanes.
When was the last time you heard of a plane as large as the Airbus 330 "gliding and doing a water landing"? Maybe the Hudson river landing, but that was under way different circumstances and in an airbus 320 which is a way smaller plane.
Here's a more likely scenerio from that flight as described by a former commercial jet pilot.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...ad.php?t=520166
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For whatever reason, the aircraft lost most electrical power and the pilots were flying off standby instruments.
Now it's pitch dark in the cabin (except for the lightning outside). In a cruel irony, the "floor lighting will lead you to an exit" lights will be on. Not that those exits do any good 7 miles up.
Now the pitch and roll gyrations get more extreme. Flying a half-powered airplane off the standby instruments is damn hard.
Maybe they get a little too nose low and within a few seconds are over-speeding. Something breaks off. More likely, they got a little slow and that combined with an updraft caused an aerodynamic stall. if they hit a strong enough updraft, they don't even need to have gotten slow.
Unlike the stalls described by light plane pilots above, stalling a big jet is quite a ride on a good day in smooth air. At night in extreme turbulence, it's the coup de grace.
You'd expect a severe and nearly instant roll one way or the other, easily past 45 degrees, and maybe to 90 degrees or more. (i.e. one wing pointing straight down, the other straight up). Perhaps an engine breaks off as they are designed to do.
Then the aircraft either snaps over the other way, or tries to keep rolling onto its back. Full opposite control inputs may not be enough.
Now the nose starts to fall and the speed pick up. A couple more gyrations and they get it under control. Or they don't, and from on its back they end up diving more or less vertically.
After 10-15 seconds of that, something catastrophic breaks off. A big piece of wing or tail. Now the unbalanced aircraft cartwheels more or less sideways. Within the next few seconds the fuselage breaks into several large pieces. At this point pressurization fails and the people are suddenly exposed to -30 to -50 degree temperatures and low pressure. As well as all the flailing wires and broken airplane chunks whipping around in the 300-600 mph wind. The lightning hasn't stopped either.
Assuming you've got a good heart, are wearing your seatbelt and aren't right at the edge of a chunk, you're still 100% alive, conscious, & uninjured. Scared and doomed, but uninjured.
Due to the extreme adrenaline rush, folks will be using up blood oxygen at a furious pace. Many will lose consciousness due to lack of air pressure at altitude. But far from all.
And because you're falling into thicker air at a pretty good clip, I'd wager all but the elderly will revive to at least a groggy state prior to impact. It'll take 2-ish minutes for the fuselage chunks to fall to the sea. Many will be fully conscious and aware for the entire ride.
The final impact will kill 99% of the people, and critically injure the last 2 lucky (?) souls. Who'll drown as their fuselage chunk sinks with them still strapped in. |
Last edited by Igaryok on May-05-2011 at 23:07
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