The Inertia Factor

[wsherif1]

In a previous post I stated that, "The wake turbulence behind the 747 in the AA 587 accident could be compared to a tornado, and you know what damage a tornado can do." One chap pointed out that the houses on the ground are anchored to a foundation and that the aircraft are not. His point is well taken, the aircraft is free to move in the air. However, the amount of motion imparted to a light aircraft, by a certain applied force, will be considerably greater than a larger aircraft mass.

The 747 involved in the TWA 800 accident was of considerable mass and thus was not accelerated in motion, but rather absorbed a large percentage of the wake turbulence force in the structure! At 2031.12, the time of the wake encounter, a 13.5 foot section of the keel beam fell out of the aircraft, along with a number of other items, including the two forward bulkheads of the center wing fuel tank. None of these items exhibited any soot, fire or explosive damage. Eight seconds later the FDR stopped recording and the two clocks, in the cockpit, also stopped when the explosion occurred at 2031.20!!

Will special ATC handling of the Airbus "Jumbo Jet" be required???

Cheers

ws