"Andrew Rowley" wrote in message
...
| "C J Campbell" wrote:
|
| Once they managed to induce an explosive decompression using the shaped
| charge, the damage was incredible. The whole top of the fuselage was
ripped
| off and big chunks of the wall where the explosion was were missing. It
| looked like those photos of the Hawaiian Airlines incident, only much
worse.
| I think it might have been possible to continue to fly the aircraft, but
it
| would have been very difficult, depending on how much damage the debris
did
| to wings, tail, engines and control surfaces.
|
| Of course, to do that kind of damage a terrorist would have to somehow
get a
| shaped charge the size of a basketball onto the airplane, place it
properly
| up against the wall of the fuselage, and detonate it, all without being
| noticed.
|
| I don't think you can draw that wide a conclusion from the test that
| they did. The Lockerbie bombing was a pretty effective demonstration
| of damage that can be done from a small amount of explosive. I think
| they worked out it was about 300 grams - what is that, 11 ounces?

Actually, wasn't the Mythbusters' shaped charge only 120 grams? However, it
was spread out into a big cone the size of a basketball in order to obtain
maximum effect.