PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Qantas A380 uncontained #2 engine failure
Old 17th Nov 2010, 11:34
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awblain
 
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Flying debris questions.

I'd interpret the coarse probability that something hits the wing being greater than one, as simply meaning that there's a decent chance that two things hit the wing.

It would give a strong hint that with a completely let-go #2 engine, which could be seen clearly from the forward lower deck by lack of a rear fairing, there is likely to be damage to the wing, even if you can't see errors, a fuel plume coming out behind, or holes punched in the top of the wing.

If you wanted to assess the risk of such an occurrence, you'd need (at least) to simulate the outcomes, and their likely consequences, perhaps using a large Monte-Carlo suite of probabilistic models of what happens when various bits of various sizes hit various things in various directions. [Very difficult, because of ricochets, the generation of secondary fragments, shock waves in fuel, `who knows what will come out of the engine'...]
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