UPS A300 down at Birmingham AL

It also depends on what axis of the body gets the brunt of the energy transfer. A nose up impact equals lots of compression forces on the body which we humans don't like,

Plus I'm willing to bet the pilots environment was breached from the floor and all the crap under the cockpit.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
The energy of the pilot would be determined by his speed and weight, p = m v ^2. The G force would vary with the distance the aircraft traveled across/into the ground.
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In addition to what the beagle said, crash survival depends a lot on the axis of deceleration. The human body can tolerate many more G's on the forward axis than it can vertically.

Chest to Back acceleration tolerances are around 45G
Vertical compression is around 20G

Basically this is where organs and blood vessels rip open, though age/sex/conditioning all also affect this.

The best case for survival generally is a longer spread out impact, not only because of the distribution of forces being spread out over time and space but also because the human body can physically tolerate about twice the deceleration forces in that axis.


RIP to the crew :(
 
rframe said:
In addition to what the beagle said, crash survival depends a lot on the axis of deceleration. The human body can tolerate many more G's on the forward axis than it can vertically.

Chest to Back acceleration tolerances are around 45G
Vertical compression is around 20G
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Correct. Pilots also can generally tolerate higher forces than non-pilots. The math is also somewhat simplified, as the acceleration in a crash is most likely not constant. The initial impact likely has much higher instantaneous deceleration. Seat belts stretch, which also decreases the acceleration along the horizontal axis, but not vertically. Seats with a vertical crumple zone could possibly help.
 
Certainly makes you think. From my experience, UPS crews are a great group of pilots. No matter the cause, these guys were experienced professionals flying sophisticated equipment.

If you don't think something like this could potentially happen to you, let this be a wakeup call. Utmost professionalism at all times.
 
Just received word that a friend was not among the crew. It is very sad that some won't get that news. It's been a long morning waiting for that call.
 
JetDrvr said:
???? Explain. If this is true I may leave flying for the UFC
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There are a lot of UFC fighters making first year FO pay (or less)... might not be the best career move. Though at least in the UFC your co-workers are honest about wanting to destroy you for their own career moves ;)
 
SeanD said:
Im glad the media seems to be staying away from this one.
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While it's a good thing they aren't doing the usual rampant speculation they seem to, I don't agree that it's good they are staying away from it. Unfortunately because it wasn't a passenger airplane, the public outcry is much less. There weren't 100 people around with iphones and such so it will be covered a lot less. I think it's critically important to recognize that this is no different than any aircraft accident, no matter what was in the back of the airplane. This is the same mentality that lead to the cargo cutouts in the fatigue and rest rules. But yes, glad they aren't out monday morning quarterbacking it all...
 
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Very Sad!
 
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