Crash Photo Comparisons - crash.txt (1/1)
Mark H. French
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Michael Rivero
Mark H. French <phy...@cris.com> wrote:
>begin 644 crash.txt
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The actual photographs would be far more helpful than mere
descriptions.
I still cannot fathom why this person uuencodes a text
file, but for those who don't have uudecode.............
There are three photographs of the CT-43 crash site which,
when viewed as a group, provide some interesting information
about the possible attitude of the plane when it made contact
with the hillside. Some inferences can also be made concerning
the extent of fire which may have resulted from the ignition
of the fuel carried onboard.
The photographs are:
(A.) Aerial view - 4/7/96 Washington Post
(B.) Tail section interior view - 4/7/96 New York Times
(C.) Tail section & ridge - 4/15/96 Aviation Week
Photograph (A.) shows the tail section ( approx. 40 ft. long ) lying
intact in a roughly east/west orientation. This section is resting
on the upslope side of what appears to be a gully or shallow depression
near the top of the hill. On a line further along the flank of the
hill, approximately 140 to 160 feet, there are two 'strips' of
wreckage that are visible. Each of these white strips is about 15 to
20 feet long and several feet across ( they actually may be connected,
it is hard to tell in the picture ). There are two other irregular
pieces of debris visible, located near the two 'strips'. These four
pieces ( excluding the tail section ), are all located in another
gully or shallow ravine that is east of the ravine the tail section
is in.
Photograph (C.) is a view from behind the tail section, looking towards
the southeast. The horizon line in this picture is defined by the
crest of the ridge that seperates the two gullys. The four pices of
debris mentioned above are located just beyond this ridge line. There
appears to be some sort of structural fragment visible right along
the crest of this ridge. It is not white, but appears to be a blue-gray
color. This artifact may also be a rock out-cropping.
Photograph (B.) is a view of the tail section looking towards the
southwest. The interior of the upslope side of the fuselage is
clearly shown. What appears to me to be a base cabinet with two
sink basins is lying on its side facing out. This part of the
interior furnishing of the plane is completely undamaged. There
are no passanger seats visible. The interior finish of this part
of the fuselage appears to be very spartan.
Going back to photograph (A.), the area extending south ( up towards
the peak ) from the tail section, and the area surrounding the other
four pieces of debris, both appear very dark, almost black. A casual
look at the picture would suggest these areas are 'blackened from heat
or fire'. Photograph (C.), which is a color photo, also depicts the
area surrounding the tail section as generally very dark. However,
photograph (B.) clearly shows that there is no fire damage to the
underbrush covering the hillside in the vicinity of the tail section.
Another look at photograph (B.) also shows quite a lot of scrub
vegatation along the crest of the ridge seperating the two debris
fields. In particular, at the very left side of the picture there
is a sizeable clump of bushes ( no leaves yet, of course ). This
clump of bushes is probably no more than 80 feet from the center of
the debris field in the next gully.
The absence of any substantial pieces remaining from the wings and
forward 60 feet of the fuselage, can be explained in one of two ways.
1.) The entire front structure of the aircraft was engulfed
in a 'fireball', which basicly melted or vaporized the aluminum
alloy constituting the airplanes frame.
2.) The entire front structure of the aircraft was disintegrated
by a massive explosion, resulting in a debris field of very
small pieces.
Un-alloyed aluminum melts at about 650 degrees centigrade and vaporizes
at 1800 degrees centigrade. I assume that the combustion temperature of
the jet fuel carried onboard could easily reach at least the melting
point of aluminum. Yet a fireball of such severity would also be expected
to vaporize twigs and bushes in an area as close as a couple dozen yards.
The bushes visible along the ridge line in photograph (C.), at the left
edge of the picture, are within 30 yards of the center of the debris field
that must be assumed to be the remains of the entire front section of the
airplane, wings and all.
I will not deal with the second option, that of an explosion at point
of contact with the ground, and a very minimal amount of fire. On the
face of it, this appears to be the option that best fits the visible
evidence, because there is so little fire damage to the brush.
What is more interesting to me is the manner in which the plane actually
broke up. It was reported very early on that it appeared that the right
wing, and then the right engine, 'clipped' the hillside. From the
deployment of the wreckage as shown in photograph (A.), there is no
indication that the plane 'cart-wheeled', which you might expect if the
wing tip caught the hill first. The orientation of the tail section is
'true' to the heading of the aircraft, if you consider the glide path,
and note the orientation of the runway complex visible at the top of
the photograph.
One possibility is that the tail hit first, and broke off. The front
portion of the fuselage and wings then traveled about 150 feet and
landed in the next gully.
It has been suggested that the plane was probably moving somewhere
around 125 mph when it struck the hillside. There is no evidence that
I can detect in any of these three photographs, that indicates any
visible damage to the bushes and small trees surrounding at least the
tail section, that would be the result of the aircraft's fuselage and
wings 'scraping' or 'skidding' along the ground at 125 mph.
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