What could cause this damage?

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August 21st, 2014 at 10:44:08 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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The pilots say they have no idea what hit them, but something caused this damage. Personally, I think it had to be metal fatigue, as there was no blood indicating bird strike. It would be one hell of a bird anyway. I refuse to accept meteorite or Iron Man explanations.
August 21st, 2014 at 11:48:44 PM permalink
1nickelmiracle
Member since: Mar 5, 2013
Threads: 24
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Beats me. Any chance some kind of vacuum pulling it in? Yeah doubtful.
August 22nd, 2014 at 12:09:53 AM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Wouldn't take much at 500mph. Falling debris
from orbit. God knows what..
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
August 22nd, 2014 at 1:46:33 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
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Maintenance vehicle ... and pilots actually took off that way and didn't notice it?
August 22nd, 2014 at 1:56:04 AM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Perhaps a lot of things could make it, but the time in flight helped sufficiently warp it into that fairly even inverted result.
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
August 22nd, 2014 at 4:29:46 AM permalink
terapined
Member since: Aug 6, 2014
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Wow, that's my go to airline when booking clients in China , airline code CA, they are huge, fly all over China.
Also sell a lot of MU - China Eastern, and a lot of CZ -China Southern
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own - Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World"
August 22nd, 2014 at 7:08:37 AM permalink
DJTeddyBear
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 5
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Quote: Fleastiff
Maintenance vehicle ... and pilots actually took off that way and didn't notice it?
I tend to agree.

Assume it was a maint vehicle, at night, and unreported by the driver. Assume a morning flight where wilt was still too dark to notice by ground crew. I agree those assumptions are somewhat long shots, but possible.

Note that the location of the dent is outside the cockpit field of view. Would such a dent cause major aerodynamic changes? I think not.

So, it could go unnoticed until it was seen by ground crew -- in the daylight.
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August 22nd, 2014 at 8:19:19 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Gremlins.
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August 22nd, 2014 at 9:37:36 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: terapined
Wow, that's my go to airline when booking clients in China , airline code CA, they are huge, fly all over China.
Also sell a lot of MU - China Eastern, and a lot of CZ -China Southern

All three airlines are roughly the same size, but together they are as big as United or Delta

CZ has 5 Airbus 380's that they are flying on three routes
(CZ) Beijing (PEK) – Shenzhen (SZX) 1200 mi
(CZ) Guangzhou (CAN) – Beijing (PEK) 1170 mi
(CZ) Guangzhou (CAN) – Los Angeles (LAX) 7230 mi

I have a feeling that there is never going to be more than 300 of the Airbus 380's. Emirates is going to faithfully begin turning them in when their 12 year leases expire. The earliest one has just passed 6 years. I think the market for new ones will crash at that time.

Unless your clients are made of money and can fly Emirates or Singapore air, I think the best way to fly one will be China Southern or Asiana to Seoul Korea.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:52:34 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: Pacomartin

The pilots say they have no idea what hit them, but something caused this damage. Personally, I think it had to be metal fatigue, as there was no blood indicating bird strike. It would be one hell of a bird anyway. I refuse to accept meteorite or Iron Man explanations.


I love investigating =)

I have to steer far from an impact. First, these airframes gotta be tough. I've gone as fast as takeoff speed, and that's a lot of force from drag alone. Small beetles become bullets, birds become cannon balls. At 300mph, that resistance must be crazy. I suspect 500 - 600mph of cruise speed is lessened by the thin air at 30,000', but somewhere between ground and heaven there's a lot of force, force these things must be strong enough to withstand.

Second, the rim of the depression looks nearly perfectly round. The depression itself looks perfectly concave. If it were an impact, the impact point would be dented unevenly. The metal that was actually contacted by the object would be stretched more than the metal being pulled by the metal contacted. You get neither the roundness or the smooth concave we see here.

Third, it's off center, yet the dent is still round. If this happened at speed, the dent would be shallow towards the tip and get deeper as you went back, making a tear drop shaped dent. The only way for an impact to make that dent would be for something quite large indeed to be fired at the plane. So unless there are chicken cannons present at all China airports...

This has to be metal fatigue of some sort. Fleastiff may have nailed it. Some ground crew bumps it, doesn't see obvious damage but there's a weakening. You pound up to 500mph and the force of the drag compromises the weakened area. The weakened area, a small point, collapses, pulling in the metal around it. Viola! Perfectly round dent.
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