Flight 175

[ooOO00OOoo]

Last night (I think) I saw a documentery on american flight 175 that hit the second tower and one fact really surprised me...
when the plane was decending it was decending at a rate of 10000 ft per minute(ten thousand) Wouldn't this break up the aircraft? I would not like to be on a flight that does that!!!

[Jimmy]

Aircraft can sustain a large amount of stress, you wouldn't normaly descent quite that quickly but they certainly can do it, such as in the event of a cabin decompresion an emergancy descent can can be almost that rate, such as a 737-436 that lost cabin pressure at FL340 and made an emergancy descent to seven thousand feet at a rate of six thousand feet per minute, I don't think was any significant structural damage. They are desisnged to do all this, and reach very high airspeeds, its when you get into the trans sonic range it must become a problem? And of course all aircraft have their acceleration limits, what would be incurred if these aceleration limits were to be exceded?

I don't think they would have been thinking about maintaing the aircraft in a suitable condition for the next flight anyway, can't say it would have been plesent for the passengers descending that fast thow, serios damge to the ears.

Thanks
James

[towerguy]

not really that much involved when you work it out

10000ft per min @ 6000 ft per nm = 1.67nm per min = 100kts

you are going down at less than the speed of a C172 in the cruise. The stress is when you pull out and apply the G's. or hit a building!