Airliner crash test

[Big Kev]

Interesting programme on Channel4 here last night where they got an old Boeing 727 and crashed it in to the desert in Mexico to see what happens with not only the plane but test dummies in various places in the plane and also bucked in, unbuckled and in the crash/brace position

They had a couple of pilots in it who parachuted out with a couple of minutes to go and a chase plane with a regular 2 stick remote in it flew the last bit. They crashed a fair bit short of their intended target site but it was interesting all the same.

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[Takumi]

Is it just me, or do you think it would have been better if all the landing gear were up? The front gear seems to dig into the ground and then helps to rip the front of the plane off. Perhaps if they were all up the plane may have stayed in one piece and slid along the ground a bit easier?

[Scottie]

bodes well for me! I like sitting sorta just behind the wings

Fascinating test though... I hope the Airlines and research crews get some good usable data from it all, as I can't see them wanting to do it again!

local disposal contractor just paid his yearly wages!

[Rots]

Is it just me, or do you think it would have been better if all the landing gear were up? The front gear seems to dig into the ground and then helps to rip the front of the plane off. Perhaps if they were all up the plane may have stayed in one piece and slid along the ground a bit easier?

Maybe also if the nose landing gear touched a fraction later it wouldn't have been as drastic.