5 ms·

If you survive a 'successful' blast at ground level, you survive. If you survive a 'successful' blast at 39,000 feet, your problems are just beginning.

• wcummings 10y ago
  Not necessarily >The bomb only created a relatively small hole in the plane's fuselage, however, and the aircraft was able to return to Mogadishu and land safely. Somali authorities now believe that they know who carried the bomb onto the plane and detonated it: A man who was then sucked out of the hole in the fuselage and became the attack's only fatality. (Only two minor injuries were reported among other passengers and crew.) http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/05/somali_airplane_bomber_was_only_victim_of_bomb.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/05/somali_air...
  • dredmorbius 10y ago
    That blast happened at about 12,000' elevation. "Passengers on a Daallo Airlines flight leaving from Mogadishu were subjected to just about the most terrifying experience imaginable on Tuesday as a bomb exploded in the plane's passenger cabin somewhere above 12,000 feet." Note that while 12,000 feet is well above sea level, it's only 4,000 feet above effective internal cabin altitude of 8,000'. So the fuselage stresses are vastly lower than those at 29,000'. The pressure differential is about 10 pa (pascals), vs. about 40 pa at 29,000'. That's roughly 1.5 psi vs. 11.5 psi -- there's nearly 10x the pressure differential at FL29.
    • Retric 10y ago
      Commercial aircraft don't equalize pressure quite like that. The assent is often far to rapid for passenger comfort so try to spread it out over a wider range. But, also the verify the system is working. http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/altitude-graph.jpg http://aerosavvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/altitude-gra... 12,000' probably has an internal cabin pressure of around 3,000' to 3,500' and of course it's unlikely to be at exactly 12,000' during detonation.
      • dredmorbius 10y ago
        Point remains that the differential between internal and external pressure is far greater at 29k ft. than 12k ft.
        • Retric 10y ago
          Sure but an aircraft is far from it's structural limits at 29k feet. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/04/that_didnt_suck.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20... Had a 5 foot hole at 29k feet. Turbulence can cause massive stress on an airframe so their tougher than you would think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rak2HldVp9M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rak2HldVp9M It's like saying a rope that's living 500 pounds is under 5x the load as one lifting 100 pounds while ignoring it's designed to lift cars. And for a rather extreme example: http://www.aloha.net/~icarus/index.htm http://www.aloha.net/~icarus/index.htm 30' just gone.
          • dredmorbius 10y ago
            Much depends on the specifics of the void, how it was formed, what structures are compromised, particularly control structures, contribution from metal fatigue or other factors, etc., etc., etc. There have been some spectacularly involved structural failures, with Aloha Airlines 243 perhaps the most impressive of these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243 Crucially important: 1. No major structural members were involved. The aircrafts main beams run beneath the cabin and cargo floors. As it was, loss of structural integrity of the outer envelope introduced significant additional flex to the airframe which the pilots had to compensate for. 2. No critical control systems were involved. In the Pan Am 103 case, steering cables were severed. 3. There was no internal overpressure or extended hull damage. In AA243, the initial rupture was the result of corrosive metal fatigue and delamination of the outer skin.
            • Retric 10y ago
              I don't disagree with that except modern fly by wire systems involve redundant cabling so it's much harder to cut them all. But, yes if you know the weak points and have unrestricted access a few pounds of High explosive is enough. The point is without that knowledge and access by the time you have enough HE to take down a modern jumbo jet you can also use it to kill a very large number of people in other ways. Remember, most bombings are really poorly executed at a technical level. Army's use grenades because they work. If you want to do as much damage to a crowd as possible your better off with a large number of fragmentation grenades than a suicide vest. Create a choke point, detonate something to create a crush, blow up the densely packed crowd. PS: Mortars are frightfully effective yet tiny.
  • coldtea 10y ago
    >Not necessarily Not necessarily, but for all intents and purposes, yes.