Airbus = sturdy plane

[vonSanta 0]

A DHL Airbus 300 got hit by an SA-7(?) "Strela" shoulder launched surface to air missile just after taking off from baghdad International airport. The pilot managed to turn around and land the plane which had extensive damage to one of the wings.

This link shows the damage.

Seems modern airliners are capable of taking a direct hit as long as it isn't on a critical part of the plane. With terrorists getting hold of MANPADS, this is good news.

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[Gawain 0]

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critical part of the plane

I don't know, but the wing seems pretty critial to me. Though I understand your point. I'm glad it held up under this condition. It's a fly by wire plane too. Isn't this the model that crashed at the Paris Air Show when it was first introduced? The computer wouldn't follow the pilot's command and thought the plane was landing when he was just doing a "low-pass", off into the woods it went.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[kallend 1,679]

I seem to recall the tail falling off an Airbus just after takeoff from JFK two years ago. It crashed, killing all on board. Not my idea of "sturdy".

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[base704 0]

You can have all that "fly-by-wire" shit...

If it ain't a Boeing, I ain't going.

Oh yeah...for what it's worth, they're also French

You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.

[AndyMan 7]

I understant the A300 is not exclusively fly-by wire... but the A320 is. I read an explanation saying that the hydraulic systems were severed, and the plane was controlled in the same manner as the Sioux City Boeing crash, by manipulating throttle.

It certainly is an amazing story.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[sundevil777 94]

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Isn't this the model that crashed at the Paris Air Show when it was first introduced? The computer wouldn't follow the pilot's command and thought the plane was landing when he was just doing a "low-pass", off into the woods it went.

That was an A320, different model.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Lizard 0]

To add to this, this is an email I received. Sorry I couldn't upload all of the pics as the files were too large. If you want to see them all, PM me, and I will send them to you.

Subject: Testimony to an A300B4 (Missile Damage to Airbus A-300)

To those of you who are wondering what happened to the DHL A300B4 coming out of Baghdad last Saturday, take a look.

Aircraft was hit at 8000 FT, lost ALL hydraulics and therefore had no flight controls, actually did a missed approach using only engine thrust and
eventually (after about 16mins) landed heavily on runway 33L at Baghdad.
This was fortunate because with no steering the aircraft veered of the runway to the left, had they landed on 33R veering to the left would have taken them straight into the fire station.

The aircraft then travelled about 600 metres through soft sand taking out a razor wire fence in the process, see LH engine pic, and came to rest
almost at the bottom of the sloping area between the runway and a taxiway.

All three crew evacuated safely down the second slide, the first one tore on the razor wire.

I flew in with a team on Tuesday in one of our Metros and some special equipment we'd had made locally in Bahrain and some provided by Airbus.
Using a USAF D9 Caterpillar pulling a 100 metre cable fitted to the back end of each bogie and a nice new aircraft pushback tug with a towbar on the
nose gear, we were able to remove the aircraft just on dusk on Tuesday night and towed it to an Iraqi Airways graveyard on one side of the terminal.

We stayed overnight in the USAF camp on the airport and went back to the aircraft on Wednesday morning to allow the insurance survey to be completed and then secure the aircraft.

Basically, LH engine rotates in a fashion, has ingested lots of razor wire and is knackered. RH engine has seized, probably from ingesting loads
of sand at maximum reverse thrust and inlet cowl has unacceptable lip damage, probably from hitting the razor wire fence posts.

The No 8 axle appears to be cracked as the wheel sits at an odd angle.

The bulk of the damage is the LH wing. About 3 metres of rear spar is missing in front of the outboard flap, the wing has bulged upwards and
downwards where the initial explosion appears to have occurred, one O/B flap track is hanging in the breeze and one has a small piece of flap still
attached, the rest of the flap is nonexistent. The pics show the huge crack
that has occurred to the rear spar inboard of where the spar has burnt away, possibly from loads on the wing during the landing process. The front spar
appears to be intact.

The point of entry pics show where a projectile entered Tank 1A, which was full of fuel, and, after it ignited, proceeded to burn away at the
spar. The fuel tank ribs in the area directly in front of the O/B flap are burnt almost 50% through.

The crew obviously did a fantastic job in getting the aircraft back on to the ground and one can only assume that it was most fortunate that they
were not aware of the state of the wing as they could not see it from the cockpit.

It also says a lot for the structure of the aircraft that it withstood the impact of the (whatever is finally determined to have hit it).

I'm sure there will be lots of other photos and videos flying around the net, but at least these ones are genuine.

The worst part for us was the airport was shut down on Wednesday and we had to be driven in an armour-plated Landcruiser Troop Carrier from Baghdad to
Balad, 60 miles to the north, from where we flew back to Bahrain in our Metro again.

I trust you will all appreciate just how lucky these guys were.

Regards,


DHL International Aviation,

Bahrain.

[vonSanta 0]

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I seem to recall the tail falling off an Airbus just after takeoff from JFK two years ago. It crashed, killing all on board. Not my idea of "sturdy".

Mm, and I recall some Boeings losing a cargo doors or just exploding. More seriously though; hadn't heard about that accident, will look it up

Still, if ya can take a SAM hit to a wing full of fuel and land safely, I'd say "sturdy" or "lucky" are accurate enough

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[freeflyguy 0]

Hey, What about the 737 (I think, Boeing for sure) Becoming a convertable in Hawaii. That was a bonus for the first classs passengers.

It landed without incident, except for a missing flight attentdant or two. Cool Vid.

Aircraft amaze me, engineering up the ying yang.

edit to add link http://www.disastercity.com/flt243/index.htm

----------------------------
bzzzz

[newsstand 0]

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I seem to recall the tail falling off an Airbus just after takeoff from JFK two years ago. It crashed, killing all on board. Not my idea of "sturdy".

Considering the numer of intelligent replies I see from you this seems out there. Please tell me you were on some sort of hallucinogen when you wrote this.

Shit happens to any and every major company in existance. Some times it is someones fault and some times it is just shit happening.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[kallend 1,679]

Quote

Quote

I seem to recall the tail falling off an Airbus just after takeoff from JFK two years ago. It crashed, killing all on board. Not my idea of "sturdy".

Considering the numer of intelligent replies I see from you this seems out there. Please tell me you were on some sort of hallucinogen when you wrote this.

Shit happens to any and every major company in existance. Some times it is someones fault and some times it is just shit happening.

From the NTSB report:

"On November 12, 2001, American Airlines flight 587, an Airbus A300-600 on a scheduled flight to Santo Domingo, crashed into a neighborhood in Belle Harbor, New York shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 persons aboard and 5 on the ground. The plane's vertical stabilizer and rudder and both engines separated from the aircraft before it impacted the ground."

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[sundevil777 94]

It took a long time, but they finally realized that full deflection of the rudder back and forth would likely overstress any commercial jet:

http://aviationnow.com/avnow/search/autosuggest.jsp?docid=1959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviationnow.com%2Favnow%2Fnews%2Fchannel_comm.jsp%3Fview%3Dstory%26id%3Dnews%2Fcntsb0208.xml

my user name includes 777 'cause I helped design the Boeing 777 flight deck, but I haven't flown on it yet

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[newsstand 0]

I wasn't disputing that it happened only your implication that it meant the plane wasn't sturdy in general.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[kallend 1,679]

There's a concept in structural engineering called "bend before break". Most metal structures deform before they finally break, giving a real big clue to anyone paying attention that something serious is up. Composite structures (like the Airbus tail) don't do this - they seem just fine and then "BANG", they're gone. A lot of engineers (myself included) have misgivings about composite structures in critical aircraft parts for this reason.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.