How fast do planes crash

While drones may be the increasingly popular option for hobbyists in search of flight, RC planes offer a level of detail and control that make the hobby both addictive and expensive. Which can make it that much more devastating when a plane goes up in smoke.

Such are the risks of flying RC planes, even when you're flying them properly. Flying low means less margin of error for any pilot, and at least this one wasn't in his plane when it went down. I can't recall another domestic case in which we did not recover the recorders," said Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. Engineers studying how the towers collapsed culd also draw crucial information from the data recorders, which show the plane's speed and altitude.

The size of a shoe box and painted bright orange, the recorders are built to withstand fire, water and blunt-force impact, and are located in the tail for maximum protection. But the attacks were an unprecedented survival test for the misnamed "black boxes. The only pieces on display at the landfill were a piece of United 's fuselage and several pieces of landing gear.

Is there language implicating other individuals who might have been involved? Is al-Qaida mentioned? Intentional crashes often have been caused by bombs planted on airliners, such as the explosive device in a suitcase that the FBI says Libyan agents planted on Pan Am Flight , which blew up in the air over Scotland in , killing people [source: FBI ]. Other airliners have been hijacked and deliberately crashed, such as in the September 11, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon [source: National Security Archive ].

Still other airliners have been shot down, such as the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was downed by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine in [source: CNN ]. There's also a rare, but even more disturbing, scenario, in which a suicidal pilot decides to take his life and those of his crew and passengers by deliberately crashing the aircraft.

That compilation includes a controversial EgyptAir crash off the coast of Massachusetts that killed people. The U. The remainder of accidents, about 10 percent, are caused by errors made by humans other than flight crews, such as mistakes made by air traffic controllers , maintenance engineers and others, according to Bennett [source: Bennett ]. Mistakes in the tower can be dangerous.

In , for example, after a collision between a commuter plane and a jet airliner cleared to land on the same runway killed 34 people, the NTSB eventually faulted the local air traffic control management for not putting in place needed safety procedures, and was critical of the FAA for its failure to provide policy direction and oversight [sources: NTSB , Malnic ].

Fortunately, controllers don't make many miscues. A FAA study found that U. Only 41 of those miscues were deemed "high risk" mistakes, but the FAA concluded that seven of them might have resulted in catastrophic accidents [source: Halsey ]. Maintenance mistakes also can cause crashes. In , the crash of Japan Airlines Flight that killed people was linked to a faulty repair performed years before.

That had allowed fatigue cracks to spread and weakened the bulkhead, which eventually resulted in a catastrophic failure [source: FAA ].

HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale. Many years ago, I was on an airliner that was descending to land at Los Angeles International Airport, when it suddenly soared back high into the air.

The pilot came on the public-address system to explain that another jet was on the runway where we were supposed to land. It had been a scary moment, but I was reassured by how the pilot had spotted the problem and used his skills to keep us safe. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar.

Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Shults released the following statement on Wednesday: Please see below a statement from the Captain and First Officer of Flight Plane crashes are rare. About the Author.

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