Aeroplanes Mishaps And Counter Measures

Children are always fascinated when they see a program on Discovery channel regarding Plane crash or about any such disaster. These programs are made so interesting that we get involved in it as if we would die if the pilot is unable to control the plane. We cannot even imagine such advanced technology failing when just a small bird collides with a plane! Yeah, the same was the case with me when I came to know of this fact. I just could not have imagined such things had somebody not told me. So I started getting information about various things small or big, which have lead to plane crash until now.

[​IMG]According to me there are actually two stages of crash. It may be either during takeoff or landing else the plane may crash while in flight. Mostly do you know, it is a human fault which is responsible for mishaps? The crash ‘during flight’ though rare is not unheard of. The main causes of air crash related to machinery failure are so unthinkable! Do you know the air crash of Easter airlines Flight 401, that occurred in 1972? It killed nearly 100 people. The problem which was later diagnosed was defect in landing gear!

I have found out some basic crash causes related to mechanical failure. They are mostly Fuel pump malfunction, Fuel mismanagement, gas or fuel leak and wrong fuel usage. Now may be, you know about landing gear. The most famous form of landing gear is the tricycle gear. However it is not used generally. The widely used gear arrangement is called Tailwheel or Taildragger Gear. This tail dragger arrangement consists of two main gear units located near the center of gravity (CG) that support the majority of the plane's weight. A much smaller support is also located at the rear of the fuselage such that the plane appears to drag its tail, hence the name. This tail unit is usually a very small wheel but could even be a skid on a very simple design.

Do you know the yaw axis?  The yaw axis describes the rotation about the vehicle’s normal axis. This yaw axis is controlled through pedals (The pedals are also called as rudders in technical terms). The pedals hence are an important part of aero plane. These rudders though robust, still have some probability of failure. We may however develop different type of landing gears like Tricycle or Nosewheel Gear, Bicycle Gear etc which may be used to avoid such air hazards.

Then there are structural defects and accidents due to birds also! Although many people may not realize it, birds are a common threat to airline safety. A very serious accident took place in 1960 which killed about 62 passengers on board. A structural defect of which Boeing 737 was already aware of resulted in air crash in 1988. There may also be engine failure, but the crew of aero plane is taught how to manage such crashes.

And yes how can we forget lightening? An aero plane is struck with lightening once every year! But these planes are made such a way that it does not get affected. The bulky an aero plane is, the more chances of it getting hit by a lightening. However a smaller aero plane gets damaged more even though it is having a less probability of getting hit.

There have been very dangerous accidents throughout the history of aviation .A recent one was the death of Polish president and other dignitaries in a crash. However it only suggests that we humans even though may make great technological advancements but still have a long way to go!

Replies

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

Scientists & researchers at Auckland Bioengineering Institute in New Zealand have succeeded in developing jelly-like artificial muscles that will soon replace the nuts and bots in robotics. The new muscles...
One of my post on VoiCE was about the need of Variable Automated Traffic Control System. In a country like India with a huge population constituting heavy traffic and narrow...
Today as there has been a revolution in every field of technology it has extended its horizons to the medical field also. No area of the medical field is untouched....
There was not a single Television news channel that did not cover the news of Fukushima power plant. Suddenly the questions on safety of such plants have been raised after...
About 40 years ago, we had a revolution when magnetic strip credit cards were introduced by IBM for the government of United States. The system developed eventually and since then...