Two aircraft, Aircraft A and Aircraft B, have collided midair. Portions of the wing on each aircraft
Question:
Two aircraft, Aircraft A and Aircraft B, have collided midair. Portions of the wing on each aircraft have clear transfer marks indicating the geometry of the collision. The witness marks are observed to have the following geometry.
Aircraft B was fitted with a flight recorder. Data from Aircraft B indicates that the collision occurred at 5000 feet above ground level, while its ground speed was 113.5 knots. Data also indicates that winds were negligible. The flight recorder indicated the position of the collision.
The wreckage from aircraft A was distributed on the ground along a straight line as follows.
Each piece of wreckage had the following properties.
Vertical Stabilizer Horizontal Stabilizer Left Wing Main Wreckage
Mass (lb) 20 35 185 4,985
Seq* (m2) 3.25x109 4.88 x109 34.1 x109 584x109
* Seq = equivalent frontal area of a sphere for the object.
| Vertical Stabilizer | Horizontal Stabilizer | Left Wing | Main Wreckage | |
| Mass (lb) | 20 | 35 | 185 | 4,985 |
| Seq* (m2) | 3.25x109 | 4.88 x109 | 34.1 x109 | 584x109 |
A)What was the collision angle? Was it a head-on collision, or did one aircraft overtake the other?
B)What was the velocity, in knots, of Aircraft A?
C)What is the terminal velocity for each piece of liberated wreckage from Aircraft A?
D)Assuming an initial vertical velocity of zero, how long did it take for each piece of liberated wreckage from Aircraft A to descend from 5000 ft down to the terrain?
E)Considering that the vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, and left-wing separated in flight, and assuming that they departed the aircraft with the velocity determined in part B of this question, determine which piece(s) of wreckage departed the aircraft immediately during the collision. Did any piece(s) of wreckage depart the aircraft at some duration after the collision?
F)If Aircraft A had an average pure tailwind of 30 knots, where would you expect to have found the vertical stabilizer?
Expert Answer:
Based on the provided images and information lets address each part of the question step by step A Collision angle By examining the provided sketch we can observe the angle of the scratch marks on the ... View the full answer
