security? what security?

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Wed Sep 4 16:05:17 PDT 2002


At 05:42 PM 9/4/2002 -0400, Chris wrote:
>Just think what
>>would happen to your internal organs (brain, heart, liver, etc.)
>>traveling at 200 mph when you body attached to seat by the belt comes to
>>a sudden stop when the plane hits water.
>>
>>wojtek
>
>Would it come to a sudden stop? Wouldn't the plane tear through the water
>and slow gradually?

Since water is a much denser medium than air, I would imagine that the initial impact would cause either or all of the following: - the plane suddenly veering of its course (comparable to the effect when a car traveling at 65mph hits a puddle) which would position the plane at an angle to the moving direction, thus increasing resistance - the body of the plane suffering structural damage which would further increase resistance - the vertical parts of the plane, esp. engines posing considerable resistance (comparable to the effect of diving flat on your belly into a pool instead of head -first).

I once saw a documentary showing a plane making an emergency landing on water (shot by some tourist who happened to be in the area) - most people inside died, I presume from internal injuries. As I understand, internal injuries (caused by your organs hitting the bones) can be caused by an impact at 35 mph let alone 200 mph.

Anyway, these are the things I ponder each time I fly.

wojtek



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list