PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Concorde Paris crash, questions, facts, opinions
Old 8th Jul 2011, 13:05
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What I always was wondering about and what is related to the "magical outcome scenario #1": Why does Concorde reach V1 (or the "point of no return") already after less than 1/3 of the available runway ? I would always believe that the brakes (assuming they are intact) can decelerate the aircraft much more efficciently (especially on a dry runway with grooves) than 4 olympus engines with reheat (one of them limited in power) could accelerate it. I would always expect v1 to be reached after using half of the runway length.
Taking into account that the crew was aware of problems well before half of the runway and even less than 1/3 from massive obstacles ahead, why would they not be able to stop the plane in due distance?
(I fully agree with the former post, that stopping a fully fueled aircraft on fire with its long leg landing gear would have probably not saved more than a handfull of lives of those in the forward cabin, if at all. Especially if you compare it to the size of the fuel leak in the Air China 737 accident in Okinawa and the impressive fire destroying the aicraft)
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