Not for those who have a fear of flying, this video showed the 1984 crash test of a Boeing 707. The video has multiple angles of the test, along with commentary on what happened. The goal was to conduct research on improved crash protection and reduce post-crash fire hazards.
The Boeing 707 was remote controlled and the plane was crashed in the middle of a desert outside Edwards Air Force base in California.
Picture of actual aircraft (A310 70-ADJ) taken in 2002
I assume by reading this blog you probably have heard about the tragic crash of Yemenia Airways flight 627. If not you can read about the latest information here.
Although this incident is terrible, there is at least a bit of positivity one can pull out of this (well almost two, the black boxes were found). One 14 year old girl (some are reporting 13) was found in the water…alive.
She doesn’t have any recollection of what happened and says she, “didn’t feel a thing.” Just found herself in the water surrounded by darkness. She was found by rescuers after hanging onto debris for 13 hours. She is currently recovering and came out with just cuts to her face and a fractured collar-bone.
Via Today in the Sky Image: Thomas NoackAmazingly all the debris and oil slick that were found in the middle of the Atlantic are reportedly not from Air France flight 447. It is uncertain at this time what they might be from, but the debris doesn’t match what would be on the airliner and the amount of oil found doesn’t match what the jet would be carrying.
This is another reminder that we really do not know what happened to this flight. Seems like there are many different opinions of what could have happened and now that we don’t even know where it went down, the mystery thickens. At this point I think we can only wait for the investigators to do their job and send our thoughts to the families who lost loved ones.
Flight 1549 Floating in the Hudson
An amazing videos here and here showing the crash and evac (crash at 2:02). Some great pictures can be found here.
You have probably heard of the story in some detail by now, if you have an interest in the airline industry. Normally when I hear about an accident, I think I am about to have to write a blog that I do not want to write about. However, in this case things (other than some minor injuries and probably some nightmares) worked out about as well as an accident can.
Flight 1549 took off last Thursday a few minutes before 3:30pm from LaGuardia on its way to .
At about 3,000 feet, climbing after take off, it is certain that the jet his a group of birds causing both engines to go silent. Most people have the mis-conception that if a large aircraft like this loses it engines it will fall quickly to the ground. However, they still have forward momentum and lift, causing them to glide.
But with only 3,000 feet of elevation in a large metropolitan area, it doesn’t give the pilot too much time to think or maneuver.
After impact all 155 passengers were able to successfully exit the aircraft. Absolutely amazing. I have always seen those water landing images in the airline safety card and thought there would be very little chance a plane could successfully land like that and allow people to escape. I am glad I was wrong!
Continental Flight 1404
A Continental Boeing 737-500 slid off the runway at Denver International Airport this morning. No one was killed, but 38 of the 107 passengers and 5 crew were taken to the emergency room. Looking at the picture of the plane, it is lucky that the number is not higher.
Flight 1404 on its way to Houston had the gear and engine ripped off. The fuselage filled with smoke as the plane started to burn. It is currently believed to be a braking problem that caused this accident to occur.
A very shaky start to the holiday travel season. Hope everyone stays safe and we won’t have any more of these stories!
