PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AF 447 Search to resume (part2)
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Old 8th May 2011, 19:31
  #929 (permalink)  
henra
 
Join Date: May 2010
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Originally Posted by EDLB
So it came down at a steeper than 45 degree angle in about 4 minutes. Anyone familiar with what type of spin that could have been?
Since it did not disintegrate to small pieces at impact I assume that the speed at impact had to be relative benign i.e. sub 200kn.

I'm with Chris Scott on this one.
I do not see any possibility to arrive at that point after 4mins without some kind of detour.
I had calculated before as did Chris Scott that this would require ~60kts ground speed and ~60kts vertical speed.
Given the Lift/drag dimension of an airliner and the available thrust I cannot see any way to achieve this (Btw. none of the planes in the russian study took longer than 2,5 minutes to arrive at the scene). This would be helicopter (/ light GA aircraft) territory !
Moreover you first would have to decellerate from ~470kts at 2:10:00 to less than 60kts (final speed would have to be even slower due to the higher speed at the beginning) in 4 mins without traveling further than 4nm.

My theory was a massive wing drop as initiating event for the turn.
Could have been intentional as well, however. We'll see.
hopefully.
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