Kinda morbid I guess, big iron enroute ditching

pac plyer wrote:



John you nailed it. Swept-wing jets are not survivable in most
ditching senerios because of the 150-kt speed (ballpark approach.) We
laugh every year at the ridiculous raft training and sea survival gear
we haul around, knowing that even if you survived like they did in the
Eithiopian A310, your chances of being able to find the liferaft when
the floor distorts and breaks apart are poor. In that accident, just
like the UAL Soiux City DC10 crash, the main reason there were
survivors was because energy was disipated by the jet cartwheeling and
shedding structure progressively; wings, tail, engines. The 747 is
designed to shear the pod engines in a water landing. But ALL the
known 747 ditchings were unsucessful. Air India and South African
Airways were never even found. This is a carry-over by the FAA regs
from straight-wing days. Water evac only comes into play in a runway
overrun event.

damn good question,

pacplyer


Why do we humans fly around on these huge
airplanes that can't survive a ditching in a
corn field in iowa? Charles Cessna survived 12
aircraft accidents! This is progress?

Bigger is not always better in aviation --
I feel much more claustrophobic in a 757
than I do in a regional jet.

Ted