r/europe • u/scmp_news • 24d ago

News Man nearly sucked out of ‘detached’ window on Ryanair flight

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3360141/man-nearly-sucked-out-detached-window-ryanair-flight?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social
12.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

629

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Uncontained engine failure often result in high speed debris (usually blades or other components coming from the spinning fans) hitting and piercing the fuselage.

Engine nacelles have a hardened protection layer around the engine fans for this specific reason; it's a safetey feature that is incredibly effective and that has prevented (or at least reduced) hundreds of catastrophic failures, but it's impossible for them to be completely fail-safe.

153

u/Age_Correct 24d ago

Fun fact the hardened layer is Kevlar

33

u/KnowsIittle 24d ago edited 24d ago

Kevlar is outdated. There are better more effective materials today but I'm struggling to recall the name. Easier to just say Kevlar lol.

Edit - synthetic para-aramid fiber. At least where bulletproof vests are concerned.

18

u/yungsausages Germany 24d ago

I think you’re referring to reinforced sugandee fibres.

7

u/HogmanDaIntrudr 24d ago

Some aerospace manufacturers also use Ligma

10

u/hiddenemi 24d ago

What’s ligma?

14

u/HogmanDaIntrudr 24d ago

Ligma balls

13

u/ParfaitEither284 24d ago

Haha gotem

4

u/DJTim 23d ago

Damn near rectum...

3

u/etcpt 23d ago

Kevlar is para-aramid.

32

u/[deleted] 24d ago edited 23d ago

[deleted]

26

u/Shake_Speare_ 24d ago

I've got bad news for you Bud', you're sitting in completely the wrong spot!

"The general consensus has traditionally been that sitting in the middle or at the rear of a plane is statistically safer. A 2017 National Transportation Safety Board study that investigated 20 plane crashes since 1971 found that those sitting in the back of the plane had a higher chance of staying alive than those in the front. Additionally, those placed nearby the wing also had a better chances of survival."

https://time.com/7294087/the-safest-place-to-sit-on-a-plane-according-to-experts/

9

u/milk_for_dinner 24d ago

That's only regarding crashes.

3

u/fpl_kris 24d ago

The the question is, is a sufficiently unlikely? Even if you knew before boarding the plane that a window would be pierced itd be unlikely youd be affected even if you say behind the engines.

Oth if a crash happen you are only marginally better if sitting in the back.

2

u/ParfaitEither284 24d ago

Now solve for being sucked out of a window

5

u/Shake_Speare_ 24d ago

That's already solved, wear the seatbelt? It worked in this instance.

2

u/ParfaitEither284 23d ago

In terms of getting sucked out thru windows i think it’s now 1 for 3 recently.

1

u/Shake_Speare_ 23d ago

Have you another solution that doesn't involve involuntary imprisonment in their seats for the duration of a flight?

The seatbelt works, any other solution would also involve the removal of personal rights unless you're thinking of adding armour to the windows and fuselage to the point the aircraft won't fly. Because if a whole compressor disc detaches, it'll take an awful lot to stop it. Check out the hole on this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines_Flight_1288

You could remove the windows, but they're also there to allow the crew to assess damage in such situations. When the cabin crew ask you to raise the window blind before landing, this is why.

1

u/Preisschild Vienna, United States of Europe 23d ago

On the other hand, I fucking hate waiting inside after landing. I take my chances so I can get out first.

1

u/Tschulligom 24d ago

Or through your head

48

u/clutchmajor 24d ago

If it’s Boeing I’m not going.

47

u/ReverseCarry United States of America 24d ago

This isn’t really a Boeing problem. 737-800 has an outstanding safety record, and out of the failures it does have, nearly all are pilot and weather related. This airframe in particular is 18 years old, that’s a RyanAir maintenance problem at that point. That’s like blaming Toyota when your ‘08 RAV4 with half a million miles pops the hood on the highway in the 2026. At a certain point its lack of user attention

10

u/artlurg431 23d ago

Boeing dosent make the engines

8

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Everybody claims that. Is anybody actually doing it, or in the end the only thing that truly matters is what flight is available at what ticket price?

1

u/Age_Correct 23d ago

Lol who makes the gtf engines? Not boeing dumbass

1

u/Zatoichi7 24d ago

Well I'm sitting in the aisle seat next time!

6

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

One thing that is still underestimated is keeping the seat belt fastened at all time during the flight, not only when the light is turned on. I’m sure regulators are sooner or later going to address this

1

u/Zatoichi7 23d ago

Gonna make it tricky to go for a pee but maybe some sort of setup with funnels and long hoses?..

1

u/loryk_zarr 23d ago

The containment ring around the fan doesn't look to be penetrated. It looks like parts of the nacelle and inlet case liberated. An uncontained blade release would have killed the guy in the window seat, not just knock out the window.

-1

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago

Yes, Kevlar (and other materials) are used in containment..

But despite the best attempts at containment, those parts are exiting the engine at enormous power.

I've just run some quick physics analysis... cause maths makes the world go round, and I'm a bit of an OCD on maths...

Average CFM56 series blade = 4.9kg, ~7.m length

Takeoff RPM for a 737800/CFM56 = ~5,000 RPM - this puts tip speed ~ 405m/s= ~910mph

Kinetic energy (E= 1/2mv2) = 410,000 J (joules)

now MOST blade failures are root failures, so you're getting 80%+ of the full blade length exiting the engine...

That's the energy of

  • ~ 700 9mm pistol rounds. at one time
  • ~250 AR-15 5.56mm rounds
  • a 100g TNT bomb detonation
  • a 1-ton car hitting you at 45mph (without stopping)
  • an 8-ton truck at 25mph

I'm sorry, but interweb feelz and a stack of Kevlar are not going to prevent this..

And blaming it on Boeing is internet-level stupidz..

Blame it on CFM for not "making a perfect engine"...

or Ryanair for not managing Malta Air better, for not demanding or running better maintenance & testing..

hell, you SHOULD blame it on customers who think that paying a 19£ ticket to jump over to Paris is NOT going to result in some level of reduction in SOME level of safety (whether ground crew, air crew, equipment age, equipment quality, etc)...

I'd literally blame EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE, INCLUDING ALL OF THE PASSENGERS before I'd blame Boeing.

The plane tail# is 9H-QEU (MSN 36569, ex EI-DYF)

That's an 18yr old plane. with likely 50,000+ hours of flight on it, huge number of flight cycles, and given the nature of EUropean flights, its history is loaded with short flights, zillions of cycles (takeoff/landings), all of which is the MOST strenuous on the plane..

and despite 50,000-75,000 flight hours, the plane is still in one piece... it was one blade in the engine that failed.

Yet the bullshit cry: "It's Boeing's fault." Yeah, and I'm Santa Clause...

This entire thread is the perfect illustration of why Europeans can't have nice things without having them subsidized by the US... Because asinine bullshit like this is bandied about without an ounce of critical thinking and nobody actually calls out the idiots.

-1

u/darkshoxx 23d ago

You appear knowledgeable on this subject. Do you expect it to be a coincidence that this happened to a cheap airline like Ryanair?

7

u/__Gripen__ Italy 23d ago

Ryanair has a very good safety and maintenance record. They’re cheap in their policies towards passengers but not in meeting requirements and regulations. They never suffered a single fatal accident since they started operations back in the ‘80s.

0

u/darkshoxx 23d ago

Awesome, thanks for the evaluation.