4 ms·

The window went missing (https://imgur.com/a/5Adjd https://imgur.com/a/5Adjd) at 31,000ft (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/wn1380#1111bb4d https://ww

by soneil 9y ago

The window went missing (https://imgur.com/a/5Adjd https://imgur.com/a/5Adjd) at 31,000ft (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/wn1380#1111bb4d https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/wn1380#1111bb4d). "Violent" may be a poor descriptor, but I'd be very surprised if it wasn't quite dramatic. What is interesting is the similarity to http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article101413922.html http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article101413922.... Same airline, same engine. Ryanair have put plenty of hours on CFM56's without blowing any up, so what are Southwest doing different?

toomuchtodo 9y ago
Don’t compare hours, compare takeoff/landing cycles. That’s when most of the stress on the airframe occurs.
- carlob 9y ago
  Ryanair doesn't do any long haul flights as far as am I aware of, so the number of cycles should be pretty much comparable if not larger for Ryanair.
  - eschutte2 9y ago
    I can't find solid numbers, but what I found suggests Southwest flies twice the number of flights Ryanair does. Don't know about this specific plane though.
    - pc86 9y ago
      Southwest has 511 737-700s (what 1380 was), and 712 planes total. Ryanair only uses 737-800s, and has "over 300 aircraft in operation"[0]. Close, but still different. Ryanair operates ~600k flights yearly to Southwest's ~1.25 million. The math gets pretty bad when you try to average all that out but if you ignore that and do it anyway (science!) then you get 1,743 yearly flights per plane for Southwest and 1,503-1,993 for Ryanair (fleet size of 301-399 respectively). So they're likely very comparable, which makes sense because neither airline could likely afford to have its planes sitting around idle for any more than absolutely necessary. [0] https://www.ryanair.com/us/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/fleet https://www.ryanair.com/us/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/flee...
- JoblessWonder 9y ago
  And on the engine, which was likely the point of failure in this incident. Although you have a different cycle count for engines since you can run it up without taking off.
jopsen 9y ago
Could it be the regulators that are different?

by soneil 9y ago

toomuchtodo 9y ago

Don’t compare hours, compare takeoff/landing cycles. That’s when most of the stress on the airframe occurs.

carlob 9y ago
Ryanair doesn't do any long haul flights as far as am I aware of, so the number of cycles should be pretty much comparable if not larger for Ryanair.
- eschutte2 9y ago
  I can't find solid numbers, but what I found suggests Southwest flies twice the number of flights Ryanair does. Don't know about this specific plane though.
  - pc86 9y ago
    Southwest has 511 737-700s (what 1380 was), and 712 planes total. Ryanair only uses 737-800s, and has "over 300 aircraft in operation"[0]. Close, but still different. Ryanair operates ~600k flights yearly to Southwest's ~1.25 million. The math gets pretty bad when you try to average all that out but if you ignore that and do it anyway (science!) then you get 1,743 yearly flights per plane for Southwest and 1,503-1,993 for Ryanair (fleet size of 301-399 respectively). So they're likely very comparable, which makes sense because neither airline could likely afford to have its planes sitting around idle for any more than absolutely necessary. [0] https://www.ryanair.com/us/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/fleet https://www.ryanair.com/us/en/useful-info/about-ryanair/flee...
JoblessWonder 9y ago
And on the engine, which was likely the point of failure in this incident. Although you have a different cycle count for engines since you can run it up without taking off.

jopsen 9y ago

Could it be the regulators that are different?