It really is the safest way to go … TRAVEL! I meant – safest way to TRAVEL! haha

Tony737 on July 25, 2008 at 12:34 PM

Tony Seven Three Seven, turn left heading two seven niner, climb and maintain three thousand. Contact departure on one twenty one five. Good day.

Of course, most airplanes are made out of aluminum. Aluminum has a fatigue life. Eventually, the certainty reaches 100% that some portion of the structure will fail somewhere — if the airplane is not properly maintained and repaired.

Every few years, each plane in service is stripped down to its structure. (It’s measured by hours in service and takeoff-landing cycles.) The entire load-bearing structure is checked for fatigue cracks using eddy current detectors, fluorescent dye penetrant, or some other non-destructive, FAA-and-builder-approved method. It takes a month with dozens of technicians working in each of three shifts.

You couldn’t afford to have that kind of care on your car.

Your dog is smarter than any Democrat on Capital Hill, but don’t tell him I said that because he might be offended, after all and I admit, that’s a depressingly low standard.

plummeting four miles and then pulling up would probably snap the wings off.

Maxx on July 25, 2008 at 4:39 PM

Of course, it would depend on how heavily the aircraft is loaded with cargo (passengers) and fuel. If I remember my design class correctly, the wings must be designed to withstand a 9-G load with an added wind gust. It is more likely that other parts of the airplane would fall apart before the wings snap off.

Of course, most airplanes are made out of aluminum. Aluminum has a fatigue life. Eventually, the certainty reaches 100% that some portion of the structure will fail somewhere — if the airplane is not properly maintained and repaired.

My collie says:

Which is why you don’t see very many collies on most flights.

Thus, it is quite plausible that the aircraft could have plummeted 4 miles.

CyberCipher on July 25, 2008 at 1:14 PM

No doubt the aircraft could have quickly changed altitude to four miles lower. My beef was with the use of the word “dropped” which implies it was not a controlled descent, that was just sensationalism on the part of the media in my opinion. I doubt the word “plummeted” applies either, plummeting four miles and then pulling up would probably snap the wings off. All I’m saying is I’m sure it was a controlled descent, I have no problem with the distance of four miles.

Back in 2003, we linked to a Washington Times article in which their journalist reported that the TSA’s slogan was “Dominate, Intimidate, Control”; Annie Jacobsen writes that you can add “And Seek Payback” to their mission statement:Last March, in…

CyberCipher on July 25, 2008 at 1:14 PM

Your collie usually states opinions. I’m impressed that it has also studied the transportation and commodities markets. That’s one hellava dog!

A friend of mine was working that flight that skidded off the runway, she said you could hear a pin drop!

Tony737 on July 25, 2008 at 11:45 AM

I swear, it’s true. Not a sound in those situations. Your life starts to flash before your eyes.

… I doubt the aircraft “dropped” four miles … -Maxx

Upon depressurization, the auto-pilot will automatically drop the plane down to 14,000, at that altitude you no longer need the mask … but keep it on anyway, until the Crew says you can take it off.

Tony737 on July 25, 2008 at 11:41 AM

Because Quantas is based in Australia, many of its 747 flights are long-haul transoceanic flights. It is not uncommon on a long haul flight to fly the airplane at altitudes of 35,000 feet or even higher. If I’m not mistaken, the Korean Airlines flight that the Russians shot down back when Ronald Reagan was in office was flying at 39,000 feet (or higher). Since a mile is 5280 feet, and 35,000 – 14,000 is 21,000, and 21,000/5280 is 3.98 miles. Thus, it is quite plausible that the aircraft could have plummeted 4 miles.

On the other hand, a flight from Sydney to Hong Kong would probably not be considered a “long-haul” flight — so the aircraft may have been flying a bit lower (like 32,000 feet). After take-off, a 747 will climb in a stair-step fashion, holding at a series of lower altitudes and burning off fuel before going to the next higher altitude, until it finally reaches its maximum cruise altitude.

From the photo, it looks like the wing-to-body fairing on the starboard side blew off of the airplane. I haven’t seen a failure in that particular location before, but that doesn’t really mean anything. When the cargo door blew off of the earlier UAL flight, corrosion was NOT the culprit, but rather the latching mechanism was suspected.

My collie says:

The next five years will be interesting. The airlines are all borderline bankrupt, and yet they desperately need to replace their fleets with more fuel efficient airplanes (in order to be able to compete). Just like back in the late seventies, labor and maintenance costs are no longer “the drivers,” but fuel costs are now dominant again.

Geoff Dixon, the chief executive officer of Qantas, praised the pilots and the rest of the 19-person crew for how they handled the incident.

Raises all around!

Haha, just kiddin’, sorry!

It really is the safest way to go … TRAVEL! I meant – safest way to TRAVEL! haha

Yeah, the plane knows where it is. Radar, GPS, etc. No way it’ll kiss a mountain. You are SO much safer in a plane than in a car.

Upon depressurization, the auto-pilot will automatically drop the plane down to 14,000, at that altitude you no longer need the mask … but keep it on anyway, until the Crew says you can take it off.

Tony737 on July 25, 2008 at 11:41 AM

Geez automatically moving the aircraft to 14k doesn’t sound like a good idea. What if you are in the mountains? Tis better to have low oxygen levels in the cabin than to find Mt. Everest in your windscreen. Or does the auto pilot know the distance to ground via radar input or other input?

kurtzz3 on July 25, 2008 at 12:04 PM

It went away, like everything else common sense wise. You expect it not to “change”.

Tony737 on July 25, 2008 at 11:41 AM

Tony you aren’t making me “feel” any safer!

Pillow on lap, head down to knees, hands behind neck?

I was surprised to see people sitting upright in their seats. Even one person with her hand outstretched on the seat in front of her!

Wouldn’t you want to assume the worse and have people get ready?

Fox is reporting that there was some sort of an explosion, but investigators are not saying it was caused by an explosive device…

Buy Danish on July 25, 2008 at 11:20 AM

They call it “explosive decompression”, so it can sound like a bomb going off. In the United Airline 747 incident I mentioned earlier, the Flight Engineer finally went back and took a look at the cabin, because he couldn’t contact any of the flight attendants. When he saw the damage, he immediately thought it was a bomb.

Read about that incident here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_811

After that accident, they tried re-creating the same scenario on their flight simulators. They were unable to land the plane safely.

This is a good time to remember that, statistically, these events are very rare.