On Wednesday, November 14, 2001, at 10:39 AM, Tim May wrote:
An LME solution smeared along wing or panel sections could cause catastrophic failure during high stress flight phases, e.g., takeoffs and, to a lesser extent, landings. We ran a few scenarios about how easy it would be bring down an airliner, further spreading fear.
Sounds like something Kissinger did in what, 1983? An Open Letter to the President published IIRC in Omni magazine.
So what happened on Monday morning? From the reports I'm reading, it looks like the tail section broke off shortly after takeoff, during relatively high-g banking manouvers. CNN is saying this is an "unprecedented" failure mechanism for the A300.
Airplanes crash with an unsettling degree of frequency. -- "Remember, half-measures can be very effective if all you deal with are half-wits."--Chris Klein