I share your confidence about the ability of modern materials and
manufacturing techniques Gary when it comes to the aircraft cabin's
skin (I believe that the Comet IV taught the world that lesson),
although a hole through a window might be more of a problem in terms
of pressure differential at height. No, I worry about the safety of
people on board with bullets flying around - the differential between
the risk to pax from bad people and the risk from the goodies is
important to get right.
Chris
At 07:33 -0600 19/1/02, Gary Edwards wrote:
There is a persistant feeling among the non-technical that a single hole in
the hull of a pressurized airliner is catastrophic. Not so; they are
designed to tolerate a great deal of damage and steps were taken in the
design to prevent unchecked crack growth - so they do not rupture like a
balloon pricked by a pin. And the pressurization system can keep upwith a
significant leak long enough for a rapid but not emergency descent. Control
runs are redundant as well. A few bullet holes worry me a lot less than an
unchecked terrorist bent on collecting his promised ration of virgins.
I miss carrying my Leatherman, too. I used it to repair a non-reclining
business class seat over the Atlantic once. And I didn't charge Delta.
Gary Edwards
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