Most of the structural members in an airliner body is in the lower third.

I vaguely recall that most of the explosive decompression crashes have
originated in the cargo compartment as a result of a cargo door failure
or or bomb in the luggage a la Lockerbie. When the cargo compartment
decompresses the passenger cabin floor collapses and all longitudinal
strength is lost.

The Mythbusters and Hawaiian Airlines failures were in the passenger
compartment and the shell was lost upwards. It is possible that
someone lighting off his shoe would not result in a crash but if it
happened in the middle of the Atlantic, the next few hours would be less
than pleasant.

Bruce L. Bergman wrote:


Explained by the last Mythbusters test - First, they proved where a
simple bullet into the skin, or into the window, or a passenger window
blowing out (with Detcord?) wouldn't necessarily cause a catastrophe.
(And in the process, the plywood patches they put over the cockpit
windshield holes blew out twice...)

For the Coup de Grace shot (where Adam and Jamie were bound and
determined to make something spectacular happen for the cameras) they
fixed the holes and their Pyro guy put a small conical shaped charge
against the skin of the plane, right at a structural stringer junction
point near where the foot of the passenger (or a carry-on stowed under
the window seat) would be. He said something like 100 grams, and
inferred it was rather small as demolition charges go...

And when they pressurized the fuselage to 8 PSI again and set the
charge off, a big chunk of the sidewall and roof of the plane unzipped
in a big gaping hole, just like Aloha Airlines did.

Remember, Aloha Airlines was a massive structural failure of the
skin and ribs from undetected (or ignored) stress fractures in the
aluminum, not a simple window blowing out. Same thing with the BOAC
Comet crashes - the windows were fine, it was the square window frames
cracked at the corner of the windows, and the skin failed.

-- Bruce --

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
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