I was speaking to a relative yesterday, when she asked if I'd heard anything about a commercial airplane that crashed in a local tidal bay. The "commercial" aspect caught my attention, since that usually is something rarely heard about.
A few more remarks, and questions, revealed the commercial aircraft was a Boeing 767, which is a commercial aircraft, but also used to transport hundreds of passengers. This large beast is something that rarely falls from the sky, and when one crashes, it's a huge tragedy.
This is a link to one of the numerous local reports. The bay the plane crashed into is at the far north end of Galveston Bay, and is very shallow, except where the local streams, and rivers, cut deeper channels. The crash site is easily accessible, so the black boxes will probably be recovered.
Two things that caught my attention was the location of the jet and the weather. The jet was bound for George Bush Intercontinental, but seems to have been too far south for the typical approach. That, and there was a mostly dry frontal passage ongoing at the time. If I had to guess, there were many things that contributed to the crash, but time will be required for the investigation. Many are thinking mechanical failure, but such things are sometimes the result of human actions.
Unbelievable in the news story link the water only 3 feet deep, but the cargo plane swallowed up by the mud. (If I caught that right). How the heck can mud swallow up an entire cargo plane? I can't comprehend that.
ReplyDeleteGeologically, this area was scoured out to depths of hundreds of feet after the last ice age. Over time, sediment filled these areas to depths not much below the water surface.
DeletePersonally, I've seen huge machines sink out of sight, when they ventured off equipment mats. The depth of the soft mud is much further down than most realize, and if a huge airliner hit these areas at flying speed, the entire plane would be swallowed completely.
That is incredible. I'm going to guess recovery of the plane is not viable?
DeletePhotos show substantial sections of the airliner in pieces. I'm sure they'll recover much of the plane, but I don't know how far they'll dig for pieces.
DeleteOne of my hobbies, is airlines and airliners. I had to follow a 767 Facebook page because idiots would post hey a plane crashed today. I'm talking almost every post, for several hours. Another web site I read is AIRLINERS.NET, same thing there, five posts all within 5 min. Then these fools say well the load shifted. A plane full of boxes won't shift. So many folks who know whats going on kept say the load would have shifted at take off, not on landing. I for one always listen to those who work on a daily bases be it electric, plumbing etc, Not some lug-head shade tree expert.
ReplyDeleteWitnesses say the plane sounded like the engines were sputtering. If I had to guess, I's say the jet was caught in wind shear, the pilot tried to correct, the jet stalled, and was too low for the pilot to have time to correct.
Deletewhat a shame..let's pray for good news!:)
ReplyDeleteI think they found the last of the crew yesterday.
DeleteWhile the crash made little news, the family is probably blessed for the lack of coverage. The media jackals enjoy the misery, since it gives them higher ratings.
Well until I read this, I assumed most of the wreckage would be found.
ReplyDeleteI've seen photos of the accident scene, and there is a substantial amount of wreckage that is undoubtedly that of a commercial jet. So, the initial reports of the plane "disappearing" in the mud were not true. I can understand the opinion, since few realize how fragile such big jets actually are. From a distance, something quite large in the sky "disappears", when it hits shallow water at a steep angle.
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