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Interesting - immediately after the impact there was no fire or smog, or fuel explosion, but sources report that it set off a forest fire visible from Space.
Quote:
Local villagers were first to arrive at the forested area where the plane went down and sparked a blaze big enough to be seen on NASA satellite images. Hundreds of rescue workers were swiftly dispatched from Guangxi and neighboring Guangdong province.
State media reported all 737-800s in China Eastern’s fleet were ordered grounded. Aviation experts said it is unusual to ground an entire fleet of planes unless there is evidence of a problem with the model.
China has more 737-800s than any other country — nearly 1,200 of the planes, and if other Chinese airlines ground the plane, it “could have a significant impact on domestic travel,” said aviation consultant IBA.
I am not an expert, don't have a pilots license but have a basic understanding of how planes work. No fire seen in the video, the aircraft looked to be intact during its nosedive. Even if both engines where to fail at that height and speed the pilot should of been able to coast the plane 50-55 miles. Assuming both engines failed and the aircraft didn't start descending to keep airflow thus letting it glide the plane could go into a uncontrollable dive. This is a horrible horrible accident, the blackbox will be recovered and will tell the story. If I had to guess this was pilot error or suicide. RIP to all aboard and hopefully the families get the answers they want and deserve.
I hope this isn't another tragic manifestation of Boeing's engineering incompetence.
My money is on a mass murder/suicide by one of the pilots, but China will keep that under wraps if that is the case. That type of a dive is rarely an accident. What type of catastrophic mechanical failure causes a plane to nose dive at that velocity?
My money is on a mass murder/suicide by one of the pilots, but China will keep that under wraps if that is the case. That type of a dive is rarely an accident. What type of catastrophic mechanical failure causes a plane to nose dive at that velocity?
A faulty mechanism on the rudder brought down two 737s of an earlier model back in the 1990s, one near Colorado Springs and the other near Pittsburgh. Those planes ended up diving almost straight down before running out of altitude. I'm not saying that this is the cause of the China Eastern crash, only that such a thing can happen without the pilots trying to have it happen.
McDonnell-Douglas F-18A has a maximum rate of climb of 43,000 feet per minute, with stores. (That's about 465mph, straight up.)
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