AIRCRAFT SAFETY
OVERVIEW
Objective
Introduction
Why modern airplanes are not crashworthy
The problems
The Solution
How a Safer Airliner Might Look
Conclusion
Objective
The objective of this presentation is to give a
general overview of aircraft safety and to showcase
the fact that how important it is for the airplane to be
crashworthiness.
Introduction
Airliners as being airworthy but most of them
haven't been crashworthy.
The modern airliner is a patchwork of
compromises and stopgap remedies
Today's airliners are simply derivatives of
the wrongly designed early planes, where
the safety features were ignored for
commercial and political reasons.
What is known is that far too many people
die in plane crashes because they have
not been given a reasonable chance of
surviving.
BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
FatalAccidentCausesbyCategory(percent)
Cause
PilotError
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Total(%)
22
AIR CRAFT
SAFETY
11
PilotError(weatherrelated)
PilotError(mechanicalrelated)
OtherHumanError
Weather
MechanicalFailure
13
Sabotage
OtherCause
Undeterminedormissing
33
Under mechanical failure landing gear failure accounts to 7%
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Research departments can easily boast
that they have developed instruments &
gadgets that make crashes entirely
avoidable.
Accidents continue to happen and
theres no sense in claiming they can
be entirely prevented.
When the cabin of the plane stays in
one piece the passengers stand a
chance in any crash .
The designers must build planes so
the pilot & passengers compartment
will remain intact above all else in a
crash.
Nothing has changed, on the contrary :
Aircraft fuselage structure surrounding
passengers is at an all-time low.
Regulatory agencies and manufacturers
continue to focus on accident avoidance
instead of accident survivability.
Finally, take-off and Landing speeds are
at an all time high - the Concorde
exemplifying the problem.
BANGALORE
INSTITUTE
Why modern
airplanes are not
crashworthy
OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The fuselage contains only 10-15% of the
airplane's structure.
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
Fuel is placed under passenger seats or in
close proximity thereto.
The engines and landing gear are attached
to fuel tank supporting structure
The seats are connected to tertiary
structure and in the event of a crash they
often disconnect.
The seat belts are attached to the seats
instead of being attached to the main
structure of the plane.
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INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
THE PROBLEMS
Department
The Deadly Combination
of Mechanical Engineering
Engines, Landing-Gear, Fuel Tanks & Tires
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
Irresponsible common practice of hanging
engines and landing gear onto fuel tank.
gasoline in frail containers directly behind high
horsepower reciprocating engines
Lubricating oil and hydraulic fluids, the electrical, exhaust and heating system,
auxiliary power units, Batteries are highly explosive under crash."
George H. Tryon, III, Secretary of the National Fire Protection Association
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Tires & Fuel Tanks
A number of crashes occurred shortly after take-off
due to tire fires, to name a few:
Mexicana B-727 near Mexico City
14 minutes after take-off sustained a tire
blow-out inside the
main-landing gear
wheel well, igniting hydraulic fluid and fuel
and the plane crashed.
Nations Air DC-8 at Jeddah
Landing gear fire after take off led to DC-8
crash at jidda. Intense pressurization,
hydraulic & flight control problems
United Airlines Boeing 747-400
The fuselage torn when a tire exploded &
caused a hole 1m long in the fuselage
after take off
Engines & BANGALORE
Fuel Tanks
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
of the
Mechanical
An example of Department
an engine causing
death of fifty five passengers is the
Manchester 'accident' of 1985.
Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
An explosion in the engine compartment
caused a puncture in the adjacent fuel tank
and a fire which soon engulfed the plane
(which was still on the ground).
Landing gears & Fuel Tanks
In January 1986 McDonnell Douglas The
landing gear was torn off, while landing
which eventually caused serious damage
to the plane & to the passengers
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INSTITUTE
Jet Blue A320
Emergency Landing
OF TECHNOLOGY
Department
of Mechanical
The incident occurred
on 21 September
2005. Jet Blue
Flight 292 left Burbank,
California, carrying 139 passengers
Engineering
AIR
CRAFT
SAFETY
lights indicated that there were
The
problems with the shock absorber and
steering on the nose gear.
It was noticed that the nose gear had
rotated 90 and become locked in the down
position.
The plane remained in a circular flight
pattern over Long Beach. It continued in this
pattern for about three hours before
attempting an emergency.
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INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
The A320
touched down on Runway
at
the speed of 140 mph. The plane rolled
Department
Mechanical Engineering
along the runway
on its main gear of
for as
long as possible as its speed decreased.
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
The gear's rubber tires rapidly shredded
away until the metal wheel hubs
scraped the runway pavement.
This friction sent up a trail of white
smoke, a shower of sparks, and finally
bright flashes of flame that spread
behind the gear while the plane
continued barreling down the runway.
Once the smoke had cleared, it was
apparent that the front wheels had
been reduced to a flattened mangle of
metal and rubber.
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
The solution
Most Aircraft Deaths Unnecessary
Department of Mechanical Engineering
"The use of Burnelli airliners would reduce air crash fatalities by 85%."
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
Moving the landing gear inboard and strengthening the fuselage to absorb
the shock of landing would eliminate applying stress to the fuel tank
supporting structure.
Shifting of fuel tanks so that they are not in direct line with the power
plants and their exhaust outlets."
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
The fuel tanks are only in the wings, with no fuel under or behind the
passengers.
The wheels and tires are under the body of the aircraft with no possibility of
damaging fuel tanks in case of hard landing.
The engines are away from the fuel, on the top rear-most portion of the
aircraft. All of the most volatile components have been segregated.
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Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
In case of a crash or landing-gear collapse, will be riding down the runway
on a flat fuselage. The fuel is safely stored in the wings.
During a crash landing, the engines, at the back of the aircraft, don't get
ripped off the wings and consequently don't cause a fire.
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
"When the cabin of a plane stays in one piece the passengers stand
a chance in any crash."
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Advantages of Burnelli Lifting Body
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The Burnelli Lifting Body is the safest type of aircraft, providing better
protection for passengers and crew.
On lifting body aircraft 65% of the aircraft structure surrounds passengers;
thus more structure = more strength = more safety.
Low take-off and landing speeds mean less stress on the tires, low noise
level on take-offs and the ability to use short runways, therefore, drastically
increasing safety.
Outstanding in payload and performance
The engines and landing gear, the major fire sources, are attached to the main
structure and isolated from the fuel tanks in the outer wing panels which
reduces fire hazardous
The engines are mounted close together on the fuselage, eliminating the
serious asymmetrical thrust problems,
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
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How a Safer
Commercial Airliner INSTITUTE
Might Look
OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
Burnelli's main idea was that the fuselage, which in conventional aircraft is
basically a long cylinder, can supply more than 50 per cent of an airplane's
"lift" if it were designed in the shape of an airfoil.
Because of the additional lift, the plane could operate with smaller engines and
a lighter fuel load.
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Main Landing Gear
More weight could be devoted to safety features, such as better-anchored seats
and luggage bins.
The fuselage would be sturdily constructed as a single unit, instead of in tubular
sections that are riveted together, as it is in conventional planes, and its "skin"
would not be weakened where windows and doors are placed
BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
I SEMESTER M.Tech.
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
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Main Landing Gear
The craft is called the "Burnelli lifting-body airplane." Burnelli CBY-3
BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Conclusion
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR CRAFT SAFETY
Airliners should give more important to safety than any other aspects
The planes should be built crashworthy and should increase the survival rate
of the passengers even in case of any accidents
I SEMESTER M.Tech.
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K.M. Kirankumar
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BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
REFERENCES
Department of Mechanical Engineering
AIR
CRAFT
SAFETY
General Aviation Safety by Civil Aviation Authority
PAPERS
Little Airliners presented at 10th Australian International Aerospace Congress2003
WEBSITES
http://www.caa.co.uk
http://www.casa.gov.au/airworth/papers/index.htm
http://www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/bfrlall/key/key109.html
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