Flt 93 crater was not unique

[chris lz]

On september 2nd 1998 a Swissair MD-11 crashed into the sea off Novia Scottia:

Two more examples worth mentioning:

PSA flight 1771, probably the most shocking case of total devastation I’ve come across. At 650mph, it could well be the world record holder for impact speed:

Detective Bill Wammock is the first to arrive on the scene. He recalls 'nothing that resembled an airliner... we went on for hours, before we heard the news reports of a missing airliner, believing that we were dealing with a small airplane full of newspapers that had crashed. We saw no pieces of the aircraft that were larger than, maybe, a human hand. It did not look like a passenger aircraft.”

http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-pa1771.shtml

Video footage:

http://www.kcoy.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=9622@video.kcoy.com&navCatId=15&rss=150

The crash scene (between :30 and :45) looks like someone sprinkled confetti on a hillside. It was reported by the Boston Globe (going from memory) the largest fragment was only six feet long.



Egyptair 990 was very similar to SR 111:

The small size of the aircraft parts found in both debris fields and the radar data
presented below are consistent with the airplane fragmenting upon impact with the water at
a high speed and steep impact angle. . . . .During the course of the underwater search and the subsequent recovery
operations, no intact bodies were recovered. The human remains that were recovered,
including bones, were small, fragmented pieces which precluded any visual identification
of the victim. . . . . . According to the NTSB’s estimate, this recovery effort yielded approximately 70percent of the wreckage by weight. As was the case with the debris that was recovered immediately after the accident, the wreckage consisted primarily of small, fragmented pieces. The largest intact piece or structure recovered was described by the NTSB as “a piece of structure almost 20 feet long.”

http://www.ntsb.gov/events/ea990/docket/Ex_13A.pdf . . . .
http://www.ntsb.gov/events/ea990/docket/ecaa_report.pdf

See also http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2002/AAB0201.pdf

 

[HL7442]

PSA 182 in '78, Aeromexico 498 in Aug 86, Northwest 255 Aug '87, Allegheny 853 Sept '69....etc etc etc so many examples.

 

[Jonnyclueless]

That's a lot of inside jobs....

 

[Gravy]

Two more examples worth mentioning:

PSA flight 1771, probably the most shocking case of total devastation I’ve come across. At 650mph, it could well be the world record holder for impact speed:

Yes, that's the one where the guy's suicide note survived. Conspiracists say these things don't happen. The plane broke up in midair, though, and I wonder how much hit the ground intact.

 

[gumboot]

Although it was a mid air break up, PA103 is actually a good example to show them. They often yap about "where are the wings?" but the entire centre wing section of PA103 hit the ground intact (and only at "falling" speed, not "propelled" speed), yet nothing was left of it but a hole in the ground.

-Gumboot

 

[chris lz]

Yes, that's the one where the guy's suicide note survived. Conspiracists say these things don't happen. The plane broke up in midair, though, and I wonder how much hit the ground intact.

Good question. I recently asked it at airdisaster.com, but no one there knew the answer. Their report states this, but the NTSB summary, as well as a ground witness, stated it crashed intact. I suspect probably only a small portion separated, as it's hard to get 650mph with a major in-flight break up. If only the tail came off, that might be compatible with the witness, the FDR ending before impact, and the extremely high speed. I'd like to get the final report, but it's not online.