2007-08-08 10:00:30 · 12 answers · asked by Abanoub 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Yes, it would seriously damage it.
On the fuselage it would punch a hole, decompression would occur...but it isn't like in the movies where things get sucked out....it's a little more gentle than that...unless something plugs the hole during the escape of air, it could then make the hole bigger. An Airliner nearly crashed due to this "Plugging", a stewardess plugged a gaping hole in a roof (Caused by an entire panel blowing out due to bad maintenance), she assisted in ripping out a whole section, which broke a fuse frame and the nose section was hanging on by the floor beams/stringers. It was a miracle, but the craft landed. Think it was a DC9 or something similar.
If a meteor hit the wing box, there's a chance it could ignite the fuel if it's hot enough.
This also assumes that it is maintaining an incredible speed by the time it's reached the altitude of an aeroplane....I'm sure the air resistance would have slowed it down a lot, so as not to get through a wing skin......which are up to 2 inches thick in parts.
For example, hailstones the size of apples do a lot of damage, but don't tend to bring the craft down.
Although the deserts are full of tiny meteorites that reach earth, none has ever hit an aeroplane as far as I know.
People hunt the deserts in USA looking for these meteorites as there is a slim chance that the heating process of the burn-out has created a diamond inside, from the carbon content.
2007-08-08 10:25:56 · answer #1 · answered by Paul H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most meteors burn up in the upper atmosphere, we're talking about 60+ miles up. Most planes travel at about 5 or 6 miles. However, if a plane were to get hit by a meteor, some serious damage could occur, but the odds of a hit are near-zero.
Are you flying during the meteor shower on the 12th?
2007-08-08 10:07:03 · answer #2 · answered by Dave T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Meteor showers involve only tiny dust particles that burn up in the upper atmosphere too high to affect aircraft. Of course, some freak meteorite or other could but it would also damage things on the ground. Those are pretty rare and not associated with your standard meteor showers such as the Perseid and the Leonid annual meteor showers.
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2007-08-08 10:06:07 · answer #3 · answered by Jacob W 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Very few meteors make it through the atmosphere. If one hit a plane there isn't much to worry about. Planes are full of redundant systems. Most likely it would just make a hole. I've seen planes come in safely with an amazing amount of damage.
2007-08-08 10:27:08 · answer #4 · answered by oakwood909 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most meteor rocks burn up before they even get to the same altitude as an airplane. out of thousands maybe 4 or 5 rocks may land on earth but they are about the size of quarters. the chances of a plane getting hit are almost impossible. i dont know what will happen if 1 hits a plane but planes are a lot tougher and safer than most of the public think.
2007-08-08 10:08:54 · answer #5 · answered by Jonathan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The kinetic energy of a meteor is phenomenal and its effects on collision with an aircraft is catastrophic.
However, the same atmosphere through which the airplane flies is our greatest protector too. It would cause most of the smaller meteorites to burn up. The probability of a space rock surviving our atmosphere with enough destructive mass and happening to be in collision path with an airborne vehicle is very, very, very, very.... small. Thats why it has never happened except in the movies.
2007-08-08 17:21:01 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course, but it's highly unlikely. I mean... I don't think a plane has been hit by a meteor in the entire history of airplanes.
2007-08-08 10:03:39 · answer #7 · answered by 006 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By the time the meteor shrapnel reached that altitude, it would be pretty much burned up. A bigger problem would be if the crap got sucked into the engines.
2007-08-08 10:06:52 · answer #8 · answered by kamaole3 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There was a comet, something or other Levy, can't remember, a few years ago that passed withing view of earth. I saw it one evening flying from Vladivostok, Russia to Anchorage. Man what a sight. It missed us by a bunch though.
2007-08-08 12:07:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A meteor shower is the result of an interaction between a planet (Earth in our case) and a comet. Comets are like "dirty snowballs" made up of ice and rock, orbiting
so if a plane hit this little dust it can de harmful. especially if it get into the engines
2007-08-08 10:11:43 · answer #10 · answered by comair 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋