Flaperon washes up on Reunion Island

[aerolearner]

By the shape of the object and the position/orientation of the AF serial number, it's the ventral fin:
http://battlespacefs.com/wp-content/...Q-9_Reaper.jpg

[unworry]

By the EID code UHK97000-12, it looks like it comes from a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper:
FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry

Oh, just great.

As if this mystery can't get any stranger, tomorrow's headlines will read:

"unmanned drone link to MH370 disappearance"

[peekay4]

From AirLive.net:

Pilot of Air France flight on approach to Saint-Denis Roland Garros Airport (Reunion Island) this morning (tuesday) reported a floating object at about 44 miles off the island.

The Boeing 777 flight AF642 from Paris Orly was at 10,000ft during this observation. The plane landed at 9:43. The pilot could not give GPS heading of the object.

The Cross (operational regional monitoring centers and rescue ) asked a merchant ship, the only nearby ship to divert to check, but found no trace of any debris.

French authorities will send a Casa aircraft of French Air Force to will fly over the area according to Reunion media.

AirLive.net: Pilot of Air France #AF642 reported a floating object off Reunion island

[Capry]

False alert:

09/15/2015 15:06 Military aircraft CASA has spotted nothing, end of search

[TEEEJ]

Unworry,

A couple of MQ-9s have been reported lost in the region. One was reported crashing into the sea off Seychelles.

Another drone crashes in Seychelles... the second in just four months | Daily Mail Online

US military drone crashes in Seychelles - Telegraph

[oldoberon]

Originally Posted by unworry

Oh, just great.

As if this mystery can't get any stranger, tomorrow's headlines will read:

"unmanned drone link to MH370 disappearance"

or

"pilot (whosoever it was) had drone to escape MH370 Crash"

[mmurray]

A couple of MQ-9s have been reported lost in the region.

Both those reports look like the drones would have been salvageable. I assume they would salvage the parts not just let them drift ? But I'm just guessing.

Michael

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by mmurray

Both those reports look like the drones would have been salvageable. I assume they would salvage the parts not just let them drift ? But I'm just guessing.

You're probably right.

But I very much doubt that those are the only two MQ-9s to have been lost at sea, given that one of the Reaper's roles is maritime surveillance.

[TEEEJ]

Going by the serial it wasn't one of those lost in the Seychelles. No doubt it will eventually appear in the USAF Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Reports.

MQ-9 Serial 05-000102

http://usaf.aib.law.af.mil/ExecSum20...20Apr%2012.pdf

MQ-9 Serial 06-4105

http://usaf.aib.law.af.mil/ExecSum20...20Dec%2011.pdf

AIB REPORTS

[unworry]

Teej - I was only joking, but curious where it came from nonetheless

thanks

A couple of MQ-9s have been reported lost in the region. One was reported crashing into the sea off Seychelles.

Another drone crashes in Seychelles... the second in just four months | Daily Mail Online

US military drone crashes in Seychelles - Telegraph

[Plastrio]

According to Factual Information, there was a 37 second gap between the disapperance of "Mode S" and "Rader position symbol", what may have caused this gap?

The Mode S symbol of MH370 dropped off from radar display at 1720:36 UTC [0120:36
MYT], and the last secondary radar position symbol of MH370 was recorded at 1721:13 UTC
[0121:13 MYT]

[LookingForAJob]

Originally Posted by Plastrio

According to Factual Information, there was a 37 second gap between the disapperance of "Mode S" and "Rader position symbol", what may have caused this gap?

The radar data processor.

[oldoberon]

First digital map of ocean sediments

Interesting seabed map here from new scientist.

https://d1o50x50snmhul.cloudfront.ne...8264-1_800.jpg

Although related to climate change it shows that the seabed in the search area is predominantly three sorts

A) clay
B) siliceous mud
C) Calcareous ooze

If either of B or C is in a canyon along with wreckage, don't think there is much chance of them finding anything.

Wish them well with the search and hope they do find something to assist with report..

[Ulric]

A report detailing failure analysis of the recovered flaperon.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1xm05hde1....1%29.pdf?dl=0

[flynerd]

Bad Link

Thanks Ulrich, but I am not a DropBox member so that link does not work.

I am interested in reading it though!

FN

[Johno8]

FN, just close out the Dropbox window and you should be able to read the report...that's what I did.

[oleostrut]

The link takes a while to load, but no need to sign up on the site.

Interesting read. Well presented .

Comes down to possible separation due to flutter or impact, with a leaning toward flutter. But no definite conclusion.

[AirLandSeaMan]

Flutter leading to inflight flaperon separation

Tom's new Flaperon Paper provides additional support for the in-flight separation theory I suggested July 29, 2015. The trailing edge damage is indicative of extreme aerodynamic forces and/or flutter, not impact damage.
http://tinyurl.com/qddkutu

[PrivtPilotRadarTech]

Thanks Ulric

Thanks Ulric, indeed an interesting read, and at a minimum those are by far the best photos of the flaperon I've seen. I gather this is an unofficial effort by someone with expertise who only had access to publicly available photos. It's too bad he didn't have access to the flaperon, I'm sure a close look at that trailing edge would allow a determination whether it was flutter or impact that broke it off. I agree with Oleostrut and AirLandSeaMan, the flutter fail mode is my best guess. Feint to the NW, final turn S toward the middle of nowhere, hypoxia, fuel exhaustion, spiral in.

[indie cent]

Due process

If I could carefully ask about the legitimacy of supposedly scientific papers being quasi published here.

One link includes the following:

"4.1 BASIS
Definitive failure analysis is most difficult to perform without the following:
 Jet aircraft incident investigation knowledge and experience
 Physical access to the MH370 Flaperon"

Interesting.

If it is the norm for a professional pilot website to link directly toward unregulated, self-entitled, reports which could easily be interpreted as rigorous analysis and these are read as having credibility... Then what happens if the professional analysis is in total contradiction to widely publicised but entirely unqualified speculation?

I am genuinely struggling for the eloquence and words to sum up the distrust that is held for rigorous scientific procedure which has given society so many benefits.

Today, right now, it seems possible for anybody to publish a link to a "paper" which has no publishing etiquette, no scientific peer review and no moderation. Yet, gob****e is elevated to the status of worthy reading. Different subject, but the internet seems to mean that everybody has an opinion on the truth!

Yeah - I did feel frustrated because I followed the thread hoping for insight and also read the links. To make matters worse - I started out thinking it was meaningful analysis.