Originally Posted by
Super EZ E
Is that the one A/c that depressurized and 12" crack found? Airplanes break so what!? If you fly it enough it will break.
There's a lot of redundancy in our planes, and we obviously accept that some things break. I've had three emergency descents due to cabin pressure (various root causes in press system) and I'm OK with that.
I am NOT OK with structural failures in an airplane, most especially in the pressure vessel... in case you're not an an engineer, once it starts ripping under pressure it's hard to predict where it will end (especially in an older plane with a lot cycles and fatigue)... there are a variety of historical case studies and I can think of only one with a relatively happy ending (Aloha). The ONLY acceptable standard is that the pressure vessel and other key structural items doesn't fail in flight (they can fatigue and crack as long as the system catches before it fails).