A good photo showing the T7 HS upper surface with the location of the NO STEP labels:

Photos: Boeing 777-31H/ER Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Well found, Andrasz (I tried & failed!), but could you add/edit some arrows or labels? Image resolution means we can only see illegible markings.

Are there multiple 'No Step' signs along the entire span of the HS?

Can anyone identify where the recovered 'No Step' debris would normally be found (shape matching?).

Dean

As soon as I saw the No Step, I thought of the cargo hold.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...0cargohold.jpg

Biology
 

Someone who is more MARINE BIOLOGIST than us "TECHNICIANS" please shed some light on the absence of growth on this new part. Too many days in the water and I don't see barnacles and stuff growing on this piece. :8

Interesting call, BH!

However, the 'No Step' stencilling on the recovered debris is across one line, whereas your cargo drivebay photo signage appears (AFAICT) to be on 2.

Debris =
"No Step"

Cargo hold =
"No
Step"

Dean

A320FOX: I'm not a marine biologist (although I do have a PhD in biology), but I could imagine scenarios in which impact with the ocean & aircraft disintegration yielded leaked pools of floating oil, hydraulic fluid, residual fuel in APU feeds, etc.

If some (but not necessarily all) bits of airframe debris floated off in such pools, encrustation or colonisation by marine creatures may be significantly delayed.

Components forward of ruptured reservoirs or tanks (eg. flaperon) may become colonised, whereas empennage aft (e.g. HS) may not be.

For an authoritative answer, you would need a....marine biologist!

Additionally, Ppruners who could offer an opinion on the water-solubility or durability of such oily fluids may also provide guidance (eg. how long can oil slicks persist?)

Dean

MH17 left wing, if I remember well

https://fwtinw.dm2302.livefilestore....MH-17-268a.jpg

Hi Dean.

Would need to gt a look inside an MH hold to kk how they display it. I also note that rivet line across the piece as well...maybe not something you'd see in the hold.

Anyway, just a thought. The material resembled the hold lining from memory.

:ok:

if this indeed from a 777, the best corralation I have been able to achieve (scale and rotate in PS) places this item about 2/3 span out towards the tip of the HS, the fastener line coincident with the forward edge of the torsion box.
That would mean NO STEP is at the rear of the piece assuming the aircraft is travelling forwards.

Buster: the cargo hold 'drivebay' image you posted above clearly shows multiple stencilled "No Step" (2 separate lines) along the length of the angled panels between cargo deck floor & fuselage wall.

(Unless MAS specified a peculiar interior paint job that differs from your image!)

Dean

Teddy: could you post pics of your PS debris + HS alignments?

Important stuff!

Dean

Image
 

Not sure I'm prepared to risk insulting the intelligence of fellow professionals by doing that, for starters the only scaling information I was able to use were the step markings themselves, and the piece would in any case be off the edge of the EK 777 tail image, but a quick play in photoshop and you will see where I'm coming from.

Debris overlayed on RHS
 

Teddy, as a mere PPL-I peasant with some image-manipulation capabilities, I'll take my chances... :8 :)

I agree that it is difficult to find much detail to scale by. This is my best effort to scale and align the debris at the three positions I could find.

http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...-scaled800.png
http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...-scaled800.png

The image shows the debris overlayed on the image with 35% opacity to make it possible to "see through" the overlay. The alignment is purely visual and 2D and does NOT compensate for the foreshortening in the EK image. However, in my mind it suggests that the most likely location of these three is the most inboard.

Will post follow-up with zoom.

Keep that flak coming...

Zoom-in on overlay
 

Here is a zoomed-in image (to resolution of original debris image) that shows the inboard location:

http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...777debris1.png
http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...777debris1.png

Here is the same thing at 10% opacity that gives better opportunity to criticize my alignment ;):

http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...s1opaque10.png
http://www.pprune.org/members/311051...s1opaque10.png

(Thanks Rob for helping me to include the images.)

/Niclas

Wow!

NiclasB & Teddy - you are both *very* much overly-modest.

Teddy - your best match may be to 2/3 outboard (& NiclasB's efforts appear to replicate or at least also feature this), but Nic's near-fuselage overlay does not include the circular feature seen in the other 2 suggested locations.

This circular feature is absent in photos of the debris.

If this is the case, the forces involved in detaching the HS component from the airframe must have been sufficient to do so at the structure's strongest point - where it attaches to the fuselage (or spar-like through-tail structure).

(Ducking in advance of accusations of being an 'armchair expert'!)

Dean

Dean. I just wondered if MH (customers) or Boeing determined the printing in the hold but, it's a moot point. Teddy & NiclasB seem to have nailed it.

Buster: the only silly question is the one not asked.

I doubt that any airline would give a hoot about how the guts of an aircraft were painted (other than to save weight or perhaps to accommodate first-owner language specifics, or 'Elf & Safety' requirements?), but I hope a Boeing person might indicate if this is a customer option.

I agree re. Teddy & NiclasB.

Dean

I disagree. One piece found you don't know whether it's coincidence, statistical edge case, or average. Two pieces found can yield a significant increase in confidence of an answer, based on times and locations found combined with knowledge of prevailing currents. I agree though that it's not the smoking gun as far as precisely locating where the main wreckage lies, if there is such a thing.

Let's wait and see if they can confirm if it is from 370.

If you explore USER CP in the yellow bar at the top of the page you'll find you all have an album for uploading shots. Once in they have a url to include in posts.

Rob

Thank you