On 01 Jan 2004 22:19:37 GMT, B2431 wrote:
From: Cub Driver
Date: 1/1/2004 2:00 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

FWIW, tomorrow (Friday) night on The Discovery Channel's "Myth Busters"
program, one of their projects is rapid decomp of an airliner.

Will somebody summarize the findings here, for the sake of us pathetic
losers with antennas in the attic?

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

The urban myth in question was that a passenger heard a funny noise coming from
the window. He summoned a stewardess who leaned forward to listen and was blown
through the window when it blew. Supposedly she exited the window like
"toothpaste from a tube."

The show has experts, altitude chambers etc all of which proved it could never
happen.

Something like that did happen, though, on 3 November 1973.

A National Airlines DC-10 (flight 27, between Houston and Las
Vegas) was cruising at 39,000 feet over New Mexico when the number
3 engine's fan assembly disintegrated. Fan blades penetrated the
fuselage and one of the cabin windows, and a passenger seated in
seat 17H was forced out through the missing window. The victim's
seatbelt was fastened, and briefly prevented him from going
completely out the window. Another passenger tried to pull
him back in, but was unsuccessful.

After an emergency descent, the DC-10 landed safely at Albuquerque.
An extensive ground search for the passenger's body was conducted,
but his remains were never found.

As far as I know, this is the only case of a person being blown
(sucked, pulled, whatever) completely through a missing aircraft
window during a rapid decompression.


ljd