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Boeing 747 survives simulation bomb blast
BBC News - Boeing 747 survives simulation bomb blast
A test explosion on a Boeing 747 suggests that a US Christmas Day flight would have landed safely even if a bomb on board was detonated successfully. The test plane's fuselage did not break in the controlled blast, which used the same amount of explosive allegedly carried by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Mr Abdulmutallab, 23, has denied attempting to murder 289 people by trying to blow up a flight to Detroit with a device hidden in his underwear. The experiment was carried out by UN explosives expert Dr John Wyatt and analysed by air accident investigator Captain J Joseph. |
Also, its detonated along the strongest part of the aircraft, the wing root and not further ahead as in the case of the Pan Am 747 in 1988.
I note it looks like an old Cathay Pacific 747-200 freighter that came to the UK for breaking up. I guess the freighters have strengthened floors, etc, so stronger than normal passenger aircraft? |
Mythbusters pressurised an airframe, then fired various guns through windows and the like, before finally blowing it up. Search for that. :ok:
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Mythbusters pressurised an airframe, then fired various guns through windows and the like, before finally blowing it up. |
What a worthless test, about what I'd expect from the United Nations.
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Yes, but they did that on the ground, where the ratio of inside to outside pressure was much smaller than it would be at altitude, and the outside air density was much higher, so their tests are not necessarily representative of what would happen at high altitudes. |
Watch the 'If it's not Boeing I'm not going' brigade fill this thread up. Yaaaaaawwwwwn.
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ex B-HVY ?
How dare they treat her with such disrespect ! |
It won't cause much damage as all the doors are open. Instant escape route for the pressure build up. :ugh:
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Possible they did seal off that part of the fuselage since I didn't see any explosive gases escaping from the doors. However, agree that unpressurised it's not a representative test.
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Looks to me as though the explosion also detonated the cockpit crew escape system!
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I'm glad to see both wearing their yellow jackets, very important for aviation safety!
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What a worthless test, about what I'd expect from the United Nations. |
ex B-HVY ? How dare they treat her with such disrespect ! Also what happens when they're pressurised YouTube - 747 test |
Very unreliable test.
As said by other posters, the cabin was not pressurised, and the doors were open... thus allowing excess pressure from the explosion to escape from the aircraft. And regards the Pan Am incident, the initial explosion wasn't the sole cause to the aircraft disintegrating, the shockwaves travelling within the pressurised cabin also played a part... Regards AeroMad |
And now Mr Terrorist knows to bring more bang with him for the next attempt
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Oh well, al least it gives his defence team enough to work on to get him off. What a waste of time, different type, nil differential, sea level etc. etc. At least Mythbusters would have blown everything up at the end.
A couple of new rivets and it'll be flying again next week! |
I shouldn't worry Tester - I'm told there's a limit to the amount of explosive power you can hide in your underpants. :}
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Improvised Explosive Device Simulation
With nowadays modeling and simulation technology it is possible to reproduce the consequence of an IED explosion at 40 kft on a pressurize 747 just by standing in front of a computer. So it is not believable they didn’t evaluate the variables involved in such a scenario.
Or maybe they are just trying to communicate a positive message to everyone who still thinks flying on an airplane is more dangerous then driving a car. Good for the economy and good for airline business! Here same videos on the Philippine Airline 434 Air crash investigation part 1 Air crash investigation part 2 Air crash investigation part 3 Air crash investigation part 4 Air crash investigation part 5 |
that doesn't look like glass in the windows, nevermind that whatever material was filling the window holes, seemed to get "popped out"
Also, doing a pressurised test on the ground is dodgy as well, as to get the right pressure ratio, you'd have to pump the cabin full of air, and that'd add more oxygen changing the power of the explosives. |
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