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From: piet@mcvax.UUCP (Piet Beertema)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: KAL 007: One Year Later - Could There Have Been Survivors?
Message-ID: <5970@mcvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Sep-84 13:22:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: mcvax.5970
Posted: Mon Sep 10 13:22:22 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Sep-84 20:29:04 EDT
References: <1028@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 22

<...>

	>...thereafter moderated to an average of less than 1,500 ft/min.
Perhaps there's another explanation why the plane "slowed down" without
it necessarily being under "high degree of control" and that's because
the 747 has a unique feature:
When for some reason a plane gains speed (e.g. by falling down) it will
soon reach the "transsonic" region i.e. the region around the speed of sound.
In that region the smooth airflow along the wings breaks up into a turbulent
flow. Normally one result is that the "pressure point" under the wing shifts
towards the rear of the wing, thus enhancing the fall and effectively making
the plane fully uncontrollable. The opposite is the case with the 747: there
the pressure point shifts to the front of the wings, so the plane can even
start gaining height, thus recuding its speed.
Given this it would take the plane a considerable time to come down. But
even so the final speed at sea level would have been so high (just below
the speed of sound) as to blow the whole machine into pieces upon hitting
the water, even if the angle under which is was coming down was no more than
a few degrees. So it is very unlikely that there would have been survivors.
-- 
	Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam
	...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!piet