http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-15-plane-crash-hudson_N.htm?csp=34
Landing a large jet on water is highly unusual, but it's something pilots train for, says Capt. Rory Kay, safety chief for the Air Line Pilots Association, who flew a simulated flight into a water landing during a training exercise at his airline two years ago. Pilots must ensure that the landing gears are up so that the bottom of the jet is smooth. Otherwise, the water landing will tear the jet apart, Kay says. In addition, the pilots need to activate panels on the wings known as slats and flaps that expand the size of the wing and allow a jet to fly slower during takeoffs and landings. That way, the jet touches down as slowly as possible to minimize the chance of damage. Even with wheels and nose up, large jets are not seaplanes. On the Airbus A320, for example, the engines hang down off the wings, and would act like parachutes to jerk the plane to a violent halt as soon as they hit the water And then this: http://www.nowpublic.com/world/airplane-water-landing-and-ditching-statistics-rates-survival One study puts the average ditching survival rate at 88%. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Gruss Gott <[email protected]> wrote: >> Jake wrote: >> According to Boeing and Airbus, they have claimed for years that it is >> possible for planes to land on water without breaking up. >> > > A 'bus just did! > > However if you've ever seen an a/c stripped down to the airframe and > then rebuilt it's ... kinda scary. > > Aluminum structure, a little plywood, a little plastic, a little > insulation, and some thin aluminum skin. Tin can comes to mind ... > > You can see the construction here: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alohaairlinesdisaster.jpg > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243 > > Remember this? > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_811 > Or this? > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611 > > No water needed for break up. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:285188 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
