Mac From United States of America, joined May 2001, 293 posts, RR: 0 Posted (12 years 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 897 times:
I just got off the web-site of retired Pan Am pilots which had in it a photo of an airliner which was ditched at sea by a pilot who knew what he was doing...and that was ditching the aircraft in landing configuration...gear down, flaps down.
This is news???!!! Am I being told that this is not the accepted way to put a plane into the water. This type of landing configurated approach to ditching had been proven years ago by various tests which, to my knowledge, had been found the best way to do it. With full flaps and proper power settings the aircraft slows to a speed where when hitting the water, the main gear doesn't tear off but slows the plane down even more. This make for a much safer situation for passengers, crew and plane. The structure of the aircraft including wings and underslung engine pods stay on the aircraft...and the hull itself also stays in one piece giving
everyone ample time to get safe evacuation underway.
Me From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 220 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (12 years 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 834 times:
Douglas corp. recommends flaps 25 degrees and ref speed plus 10 knots for the dc9 (normal landing flaps are 40-50 degrees). Do not open the aft tailcone exit as the aircraft sits tail low in the water.
Mac From United States of America, joined May 2001, 293 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (12 years 4 days ago) and read 798 times:
That is my whole point! Go back and read message. The "Pilot who did it Right" Ditched his plane at sea by dropping flaps and LANDING GEAR. The EXTENDED main gear digs into the water prior to the hull contact...immediatly slows the aircraft down even more...preventing damage a gear up water landing would introduce. Tests done many years ago showed that this type of a water landing keeps the aircraft pretty much intact...where a gear up landing can lead to hull fracture
and engine pod stress which transfers to other structural failures.
DC-10Tech From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 298 posts, RR: 3 Reply 4, posted (12 years 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 784 times:
Are you kidding? Hitting the water in a -10 (and any high standing aircraft for that matter) would tear the gear off a risk causing the aircraft to tumble. Think of ditching like landing a boat, or a float plane. You want a smooth bottom and as much surface area as possible to contact the pavement. The engine mount bolts are design to shear the engine off if enough stress is encounter. In other words, the engines would go before the wings. This is of course, assuming the aircraft lands sqaurely!
DC-10Tech From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 298 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (12 years 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 743 times:
LOL, yeah, but gear down on Fred is barely noticeable with all that plane sitting on top of it. Heck, a plane that size will probably shed is gear and not even notice it!
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