Flaperon washes up on Reunion Island
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: In an ever changing place
Posts: 1,039
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Silvertate
The presence of a detached flaperon might suggest a wheels up fully flapped landing on the sea, that resulted in the separation of the flap system.
Tate
The presence of a detached flaperon might suggest a wheels up fully flapped landing on the sea, that resulted in the separation of the flap system.
Tate
Silvertate
The presence of a detached flaperon might suggest a wheels up fully flapped landing on the sea, that resulted in the separation of the flap system
The presence of a detached flaperon might suggest a wheels up fully flapped landing on the sea, that resulted in the separation of the flap system
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: UK
Age: 76
Posts: 620
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You cannot be serious
My personal opinion is that MH370 was deliberately flown to the South Indian Ocean and then ditched. Whoever did so wanted to create the worlds biggest aviation mystery. He/she probably didn't know about the Inmarsat 'pings'. I also believe that this will remain the worlds biggest aviation mystery as I think that the chances of locating the aircraft are close to zero.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: here and there
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's only a matter of time before more itmes are found and more and more details will emerge.
Nothing really remains a mistery anymore, sooner or later MH370 will be elucidated.
I personally don't care for the conspiracy theories. Whether it was a deliberate act or not, we will jst have to wait a bit longer to find out.
I didn't expect this part to be found so soon. In my mind I thought that it will be many yrs before someone will locate the wreak by pure chance....
Nothing really remains a mistery anymore, sooner or later MH370 will be elucidated.
I personally don't care for the conspiracy theories. Whether it was a deliberate act or not, we will jst have to wait a bit longer to find out.
I didn't expect this part to be found so soon. In my mind I thought that it will be many yrs before someone will locate the wreak by pure chance....
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Canada
Age: 61
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Kiwi Passenger
The Telegraph Live blog quotes a Reunion biologist
"Joseph Poupin, marine expert in Reunion, told the Journal de l'Ile de la Reunion that the barnacles attached to the mysterious debris appear to be around one year old - which corresponds with the date of the MH370 crash. He told the newspaper that the barnacles belonged to a species called Lepas Anatifera, which grow at a rate of around one to two centimetres per year."
An experienced marine biologist could easily determine the time any bit of an aircraft had spent floating by examination of growth lines and size of the barnacles.
I am not fully expert in this, but by the size of the attached goose barnacles (and without any exact scale in any of the pictures), I would guess that the bit of flaperon has been in the shallow sea for somewhere between 10 and 24 months, and no longer.
I am not fully expert in this, but by the size of the attached goose barnacles (and without any exact scale in any of the pictures), I would guess that the bit of flaperon has been in the shallow sea for somewhere between 10 and 24 months, and no longer.
"Joseph Poupin, marine expert in Reunion, told the Journal de l'Ile de la Reunion that the barnacles attached to the mysterious debris appear to be around one year old - which corresponds with the date of the MH370 crash. He told the newspaper that the barnacles belonged to a species called Lepas Anatifera, which grow at a rate of around one to two centimetres per year."
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Oxford, UK
Age: 45
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
By no means the full list but, if confirmed as a flaperon from a T7, nothing I saw in the link below that suggests the possibility it came from anything other than MH370.
Incidents for aircraft type Boeing 777-200 | AeroInside
EDIT: And, I'd love to head out there and help beachcomb but funds say otherwise. The only idea I have is to hide in a container in Felixstowe and when found admit that I'm a stowaway from Mauritius in the hope that I'm sent back...
Incidents for aircraft type Boeing 777-200 | AeroInside
EDIT: And, I'd love to head out there and help beachcomb but funds say otherwise. The only idea I have is to hide in a container in Felixstowe and when found admit that I'm a stowaway from Mauritius in the hope that I'm sent back...
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: us
Posts: 694
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Agnes Thibault, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office, told NBC News that the fragment would be sent to a division of the French Defense Ministry in Toulouse to be examined in a few days. France is leading the official judicial investigation because the debris was found on French territory. The co-pilot and some of the victims also were French.
Last edited by SaturnV; 30th Jul 2015 at 21:35. Reason: coding
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Brussels
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We can safely assume that a high speed nose down crash would also separate the flap system.
As I said, an intact flaperon might suggest a controlled impact with flaps down - with the flaperon being the first item to detach on impact with the water.
Tate
Those trailing edge surfaces and the engines, all of which hang down, are designed to separate earlier than the wing in a ditching impact scenario, so that the aircraft can be successfully evacuated. The last thing you want is the wing being dragged off.
Furthermore, because the attached surface has deliberate weak links, the water-tight box compartment component remains relatively undamaged and floats.
Furthermore, because the attached surface has deliberate weak links, the water-tight box compartment component remains relatively undamaged and floats.
How does this compare to some of those very earliest 'floating debris' shots that the search aircraft were getting one day but not the next?
If the flaperon has areas which are twin-wall honeycomb construction, it could easily be buoyant. Each closed off honeycomb cell acts as an individual buoyancy chamber. The flaperon as a whole would be unlikely to sealed in any significant volumes as that would create pressure cycling and potential fatigue, in fact even honeycomb is sometimes punctured in manufacture to prevent pressurising, although they may still hold air when submerged on the ocean surface.
Here are the relative densities of materials which may have been used in its construction (water = 1, sea water = 1.025):
Here are the relative densities of materials which may have been used in its construction (water = 1, sea water = 1.025):
- Aluminium Alloy 2.7
- Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic 1.5
- Glass Reinforced Plastic 1.8
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Maine USA
Age: 82
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It might be useful to put it back in the ocean briefly and see if it floats on the surface (subject to wind and current) of a little underneath (subject to current only).
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Germany
Age: 47
Posts: 402
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
good post mechta which again points out it what i have written before : strange this piece kept buoyant crossing the entire indian ocean !
the specific density of all the materials used are heavier than water so only air inside will prevent it from sinking . and as you pointed out : the structure will not be build fully air / watertight to prevent pressure cycling.
it might be than an airpocket kept it afloat , but that sounds incredible assuming it floated about a year being rocked by the waves and drifted across the ocean.
the specific density of all the materials used are heavier than water so only air inside will prevent it from sinking . and as you pointed out : the structure will not be build fully air / watertight to prevent pressure cycling.
it might be than an airpocket kept it afloat , but that sounds incredible assuming it floated about a year being rocked by the waves and drifted across the ocean.
Wreckage that is in a small area after a crash will, after a year, be widely dispersed. It's not possible to accurately extrapolate backwards, other than to say that this find is consistent with it originating roughly in the current search area. It's of limited assistance in narrowing down the current search area. It does, however, rule out a Northern hemisphere crash and the associated scenarios.
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: FG central
Age: 53
Posts: 140
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Any laminated, cored composite piece would have it's skin crushed if it had been to any great ocean depth.
Composites float very nicely and do so pretty much indefinitely. The whole point of the various cores used with composites is that they separate the two skins and do not absorb much of the resin used during manufacture. This tends to make them quite waterproof. It also makes them susceptible to crushing under pressure.
Did the piece float up from the ocean depths? No way.
Pieces like this respond much more to prevailing winds and breaking waves than currents, and with several cyclones having passed through the central and northern Indian ocean since MH 370 was lost, it could've come from a very broad area.
Composites float very nicely and do so pretty much indefinitely. The whole point of the various cores used with composites is that they separate the two skins and do not absorb much of the resin used during manufacture. This tends to make them quite waterproof. It also makes them susceptible to crushing under pressure.
Did the piece float up from the ocean depths? No way.
Pieces like this respond much more to prevailing winds and breaking waves than currents, and with several cyclones having passed through the central and northern Indian ocean since MH 370 was lost, it could've come from a very broad area.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,307
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Real Question
If this piece proves to be the missing plane, is there any logical reason to continue the search? There is no crash site, but a debris field, washed away by the currents. There are no bodies anymore. There may be recorders which are mostly likely empty, or stopped recording at the same time when the radio, transponder, ACARS went silent. What more will we learn in that case?
If this piece proves to be the missing plane, is there any logical reason to continue the search? There is no crash site, but a debris field, washed away by the currents. There are no bodies anymore. There may be recorders which are mostly likely empty, or stopped recording at the same time when the radio, transponder, ACARS went silent. What more will we learn in that case?
It's clear that some of those currently posting have not read the thousand or so posts from the previous, closed thread and are going over tired old ground. It's also obvious that some have no aviation qualifications or experience.
Sadly Rifraf, my belief is simpler again.
A few drunk knob twiddles from a lone, hypoxic pilot trying to head home after a com destroying, explosive decompression. (Ie crew O2 cylinder failure)
God bless those aboard and those families affected.
A few drunk knob twiddles from a lone, hypoxic pilot trying to head home after a com destroying, explosive decompression. (Ie crew O2 cylinder failure)
God bless those aboard and those families affected.