Right on all counts, Bryan. The hidden design flaw in the Comet was the
very sharp corners of the cabin windows. When the cabin would pressurize
and depressurize in service, structural cracks would begin at the window
corners. Once the crack reached a specific dimension (not large, though I
don't recall the exact dimension now) crack growth increased geometrically
and failure was quite sudden.
Those conformal engines sure looked nice, but a maintenance nightmare.
Dale C.
Subject: Re: Fwd: (no subject)
RE: Subject: A300 crash
Thanks Jack. Very interesting.
This situation reminds me of another airliner using the latest structural
materials that killed three plane loads of people before the cause was
proven and it was withdrawn from service. Note that I say proven.
The theory was "catastrophic airframe failure due to metal fatigue" but
they wouldn't quit flying the Comet until it was proven. The proof
came shortly after 3# disappeared on a flight over the ocean.
The result of their failure to stop flying the the plane after the first
one disappeared contributed to the elimination of the British from
the passenger aircraft industry.
What they didn't know killed a lot of people and created an unpleasant
situation in the engineering community. The "experts" were divided,
fairly evenly, about the theory until the moment the plane under test
had a catastrophic failure as predicted.
The Comet was such a beautiful plane...
Bryan ( some insiders call it the Scarebus )
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