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Delta FF, after the southwest engine explosion, will you sit in a different spot?

Delta FF, after the southwest engine explosion, will you sit in a different spot?

Old Apr 17, 2018, 6:51 pm
  #1  
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Delta FF, after the southwest engine explosion, will you sit in a different spot?

I usually only fly delta.

I am terribly upset about the plane accident which killed a woman on southwest after an engine exploded. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for her family.

Is it safer to sit in front of the wing?

If an engine blows up, the shrapnel likely will go lateral or aft of the engine, right?
Is the aisle safer than the window?

Looks like row 17.
So sad.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a8309201.html

What about when flying on a 737? Or at least a 737-700?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43818752

Last edited by tkjazzer; Apr 19, 2018 at 7:37 am
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 6:54 pm
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No. I understand probability.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:03 pm
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I won't change a thing.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:19 pm
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Originally Posted by readywhenyouare
No. I understand probability.
Something like that. One has a far greater chance of dying in the car on the way to the airport than being killed on-board by an uncontained engine explosion.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:29 pm
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you know I often sit in that spot behind the wing as well, exit row 21A or 21F. I often have wondered about the engine backfiring or something and spraying me.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:30 pm
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You can change your habits to avoid row 17, but assuming it's a repeatable accident, you'll only be avoiding that particular problem, an uncontained engine explosion on a 737. Can you model where the pieces would fly on a 757 or a 767 or 777? I'm sure it also would depend on airspeed and wind shear and other things, too.

I remember Time magazine did a crash review (as did Popular Mechanics or Popular Science) and both magazines found the back of the plane is safest. Will you decline upgrades to F? As 3Cforme said above, car/motorcycle/pedestrian fatalities are much higher than airplane deaths. Some other report found aisles less safe, because you are further from an emergency exit.

The SW accident is a sad tragedy, on the news they said other pax dragged her back into the plane, and others did CPR on her as well, to no avail.
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Last edited by daloosh; Apr 17, 2018 at 7:37 pm
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:41 pm
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A similar uncontained engine failure occurred on a DL MD-88 in 1996 killing two passengers --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_...es_Flight_1288
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:44 pm
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There are many factors to consider. The lady that died may have already been in poor health. It is certainly survivable. A British Airways captain was sucked out of the flight deck when an improperly installed windshield broke away from the aircraft. The flight attendants held onto him and he remained outside of the plane until the first officer landed the aircraft. He survived and went back to his aviation career.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:46 pm
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First ever SW human casualty and the first in the U.S. in almost 10 years.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:52 pm
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Originally Posted by sydneyracquelle
First ever SW human casualty and the first in the U.S. in almost 10 years.
First WN accident casualty on an aircraft. WN1248 slid off a runway at MDW and killed a child in a car on the ground.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southw...es_Flight_1248
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:56 pm
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If you sit in an aisle seat, you have exactly the same chance of dying from some dork's fantasy sword falling out of the overhead. Don't be silly.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 7:59 pm
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Originally Posted by LBJ
A similar uncontained engine failure occurred on a DL MD-88 in 1996 killing two passengers --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_...es_Flight_1288
Wow that MD-88 is still in service today! Im surprised they never wrote it off especially with the two deaths. I flew on N927DA (the aircraft involved in this incident) back in November and had no idea that that it was the MD-88 involved in the accident.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 8:01 pm
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Originally Posted by MCO Flyer


Wow that MD-88 is still in service today! Im surprised they never wrote it off especially with the two deaths. I flew on N927DA (the aircraft involved in this incident) back in November and had no idea that that it was the MD-88 involved in the accident.
Yes she is alive and well. I've even sat in the exact row where it happened.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 8:03 pm
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Originally Posted by readywhenyouare


Yes she is alive and well. I've even sat in the exact row where it happened.
I had friends on the flight who were sitting back there. (I was up in F) Any time I sit back there I actually think about that accident and was even thinking about it with them back there but had no idea that was the exact aircraft it happend on! Must have been strange for you sitting in a row where you knew others had died.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 8:09 pm
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Originally Posted by daloosh
You can change your habits to avoid row 17, but assuming it's a repeatable accident, you'll only be avoiding that particular problem, an uncontained engine explosion on a 737. Can you model where the pieces would fly on a 757 or a 767 or 777? I'm sure it also would depend on airspeed and wind shear and other things, too. ...
looking at the photos, Ill speculate theres a very high probability that a blade in a fan or high-pressure compressor (HPC) disk failed

basic physics says that any windows even with or forward of the first stage of the fan (typically about a foot inside the lip of the nacelle) are extremely unlikely to be struck by debris, and any windows aft of the overwing exits are mostly if not completely shielded by the wing

I think most modern jets have additional structure (rib and stringer doublers, thicker skins, etc) between the windows in this part of the fuselage, but I dont know if windows have actually been strengthened
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