
Airlander 10: Longest aircraft damaged during flight - teh_klev
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37174417
======
JoeAltmaier
A spokesman said: "The flight went really well and the only issue was when it
landed."

Well, that's kind of every air flight ever. Its sticking the landing that's
the hard part. Its not the fall that kills you; its the sudden stop at the
end.

~~~
simplicio
One of the advantages of large lighter than air craft is that they actually
tend to crash in slo-mo, so the "sudden stop" tends to be pretty slow. In the
case of the Hindenberg, a lot of the people who died did so because they
jumped out too early and fell to their deaths, rather than "ride" the craft
down.

Even in the worst disaster, the USS Akron, most deaths were due to drowning
and hypothermia after the ship went down, rather than impact.

~~~
anexprogrammer
The majority of Hindenburg victims burnt to death - "riding the craft down"
doesn't seem quite such an attractive option.

~~~
simplicio
Well, obviously you don't want to hang around very long after its on (or even
close to) the ground. IIRC, most of the burning deaths were crew-members in
the upper parts of the ship who were either caught in the fire in its first
stages or didn't have a way out even after it hit the ground. The lower decks
weren't ignited till it hit the ground.

But the point is that "impact" wasn't a common cause of death for those who
stayed in the ship until it was near the ground. Even when the lifting gas is
being vented fairly rapidly, they tend to comedown at survivable speeds.

------
dvcc
For anyone who has not had the chance to read it there is a good article from
the New Yorker on airships:
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-
generatio...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-
of-airships-is-born).

It was a fun light read. Although at the end I just felt like I got a lesson
in really expensive, and partially complete vaporware (vapor-commercial-ware?)
and was left with little hope for their future.

~~~
Naritai
I highly recommend that article as well. Though yes, like you I was left with
a sense that this industry is never going to take off, so to speak.

------
Declanomous
As the saying goes, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. A great
landing is one where you can fly the plane again.

~~~
mdip
Ah, ya beat me to that quote!

Growing up, we flew in my dad's 4-seat (and later 7-seat) Cherokee very
frequently and he'd always comment on his landing. He judged his entire flight
by how easy it was to identify when the tire made contact with the runway. I
remember a flight in high winds that he put down so softly that nobody could
tell when we hit the ground. I also remember a landing when I was alone with
my dad where we encountered a cross-wind a few seconds before making contact
resulting in my slamming my head into the top of the cockpit and yelling
"Mother F*cker!" (I was 14, he'd never heard me swear before and it was a
bonding moment that he shrugged it off and thought it was totally warranted
given the circumstances).

~~~
mikeash
Bad landings seem to be something that unites almost all pilots. The better
ones make bad landings less often, but nobody is immune.

Regarding your bonding moment, one reason I like to fly by myself is so I can
swear as much as I want. Part of me is always slightly terrified of having a
stuck mic.

------
LeifCarrotson
It nosedived on landing, and suffered some damage to the cabin. The crew was
fine.

That's a huge win for lighter-than-air flight in my book. A jet aircraft would
be a smear of aluminum, carbon fiber, and jet fuel all over the runway.

~~~
mdip
Actually, a nose-dive landing occurred at LaGuardia in 2013 - Southwest
Airlines - I believe the incident had something to do with the front landing
gear failing. There was a small fire (as you mention, jet fuel is quite
flammable and if there's a leak and a spark, that's a foregone conclusion, I'd
imagine).

But the aircraft itself didn't look too bad which is a testament to decades of
engineering experience with a device of such complexity[0].

[0] And found a link!
[http://gothamist.com/2013/07/23/video_southwest_planes_nosed...](http://gothamist.com/2013/07/23/video_southwest_planes_nosedive_ont.php#photo-1)

~~~
gengkev
I guess that's why you're not supposed to take your seatbelt off until you get
to the gate...

------
cptskippy

      "The company has denied claims from a witness that a line
      hanging down from the vehicle hit a telegraph pole about 
      two fields away from its landing."
    

Telegraph pole? Is that a British colloquialism or do they still have
telegraph poles over there? Or was that how they knew the witness was lying?

~~~
jameshart
British term for a wooden pole that has wires at the top, regardless of what
the wires are actually for.

------
Animats
Watch the 1080p version.[1] Did they have a control system failure, or was
this pilot error? The front fans are steerable, but there's no sign of an
attempt to correct the nose-down attitude as the craft dives. Watch the front
fan positions. After the crash, the front fans move, but by then the cockpit
has been crushed and there's probably nobody in control.

This thing is the same concept as the Skunk Works' P791 prototype - slightly
heavier than air, steerable fans - but the flight controls seem to be much
less effective and the landing gear is far worse.

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkYbw4R_-
RQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkYbw4R_-RQ)

------
sandworm101
Lots of different descriptions around this story: "Damaged during
flight"..."has been damaged after nosediving on landing"..."damage to its
cockpit when it hit the ground"..."Collided with the ground"

But only one honest: "The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has confirmed it
is investigating the _crash_ "

It crashed. During flight it collided with a fixed object (technically an
"ollision") resulting in damage to the aircraft. On its second a test flight,
the experimental aircraft crashed.

~~~
mikeash
They all look honest to me, and the one you're praising is much less
informative than three of the four you criticize.

------
EddieSpeaks
Down the Irons!

~~~
dan1234
Empire of the clouds[0]: part two…

[0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Clouds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Clouds)

