Sorry for being insensitive, I don’t work in the marketing department. I do think it is an amusing story. My first post was apparently not read through by some respondents. I mentioned wing flex and soft ride, and that the wings were designed to do so. A previous thread (Reporting Points – The seat belt sign is on) about a similar issue discussed ‘telling it like it is’, so I did and am berated. Well this is a technical forum and I prefer straightforward talk. If you have an amusing anecdote, such as the Irish wings, even more fun. Tact is certainly desirable, but is not a requirement for posting on this forum. This is the technical forum, not the spin-doctors forum.
To answer the question, "Do large planes ever fall apart due to excessive vibration?", at the additional risk of being insensitive.
3 aircraft mishaps come to mind as the result of turbulence. One in Anchorage, a 747 dropped an engine during climb out as it hit a mountain wave (pods not designed for lateral shear loads). The others are Braniff 250 a BAC 1-11, and BOAC 911 a B-707-436, both of them structurally failed in flight due to turbulence. There are probably other cases of structural failure due to turbulence; there certainly are many cases of jet upset due to turbulence, NWA 705, a B-720 being one.
Last edited by '%MAC'; 30th April 2002 at 19:37.