Aircraft – Page 2 – John Vincent

There’s steep hills. Some more interesting than others, you might say. In my youth this one was known for the road that climbed the hill. That’s the B3081, if you want the detail. It’s an opportunity to journey through wonderful English countryside. The area being Cranborne Chase, a protected landscape.

Zigzag hill was great fun for us as children. Probably not so much fun for my parents as our jet black Wolseley16/60 strained to get around the corners and climb to the top. The car packed with the six of us. This was a route we’d take to get from home to Bournemouth, and the seaside.

On the way, I remember the finger post signs to Compton Abbas Airfield[1]. My thought being what an interesting place for an airfield, right up here high on the chalk hills. Looking down on the surrounding Dorset countryside and the town of Shaftsbury.

Normally, I have to go to flying displays to see historic aircraft fly. This Sunday afternoon, I travelled no further than my back door. Sitting outback in the steaming 30C-degree summer weather all I had to do was look-up. Not that I’d planned to look skyward.

That doesn’t happen every day. First there was a distant rumbling sound. Then it developed into the hum of multiple piston engines. It’s only when the distinctive sight of a Lancaster bomber appeared over the roof of my house did all become clear what was happening.

As soon as I fixed my eyes on the aircraft it was already off over the garden and out across the neighbouring field. This was Avro Lancaster PA474 passing right overhead[2]. It was heading off in a north easterly direction at a notably low altitude. Quote a spectacular sight.

I had to do a little research once the aircraft had disappeared over the horizon. Looking at what was happening on Sunday, I assume it was flying back from Compton Abbas Airshow[3] to its home in Lincolnshire. Given the high summer weather, this was a great day for flying.

This Second World War heavy bomber first flew in 1941. It’s part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), based at RAF Coningsby. It’s the only Avro Lancaster that remains airworthy and flying in the UK. It’s only recently returned to the air after a tragic accident involving the BBMF.

Later in the day, off in the distance, looking north, three other historic aircraft trundled across the sky. After dark, with the heavens clear, I caught the Perseid meteor shower. So, for watchers of the skies, 11^th August was a noteworthy day.

[1] https://www.comptonairfield.com/

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyg7e7x319o

[3] https://comptonabbasairshow.co.uk/participants/

In so far as I know, no person on the ground has been killed by an object falling from a commercial aircraft in flight. I’m happy to be corrected if that situation has changed. Strangely, in contrast there are plenty of reports of people falling from aircraft and being killed as a result[1]. Additionally, there are cases of parts shed by aircraft that subsequently contribute to an aircraft accident[2].

The most frequent reports of falling objects, in and around airports are not parts of an aircraft but that which is in the atmosphere all the time. Namely, ice. When it hits the ground in the form of a hailstorm it can be damaging. In flight, it can be seriously damaging to an aircraft.

What I’m writing about here are the third-party risks. That’s when an innocent individual finds themselves the target of an improbable event, some might call an act of God. Ice falls are rare. However, given the volume of worldwide air traffic there’s enough of them to be alert to the problem. As soon as ice accretes to create lumps bigger than a kilo there’s a real danger.

Can ice falls be prevented? Here again there’s no doubt some are because of poor maintenance or other preventable factors, but others are just nature doing its thing. Regulators are always keen to collect data on the phenomena[3]. It’s something that goes on in the background and where the resources allow there can even be follow-up investigations.

Near misses do make the newspaper headlines. The dramatic nature of the events, however rare, can be like a line from a horror movie[4]. Other cases are more a human-interest story than representing a great risk to those on the ground[5].

It’s worth noting that falling objects can be quite different from what they are first reported to be. That can be said about rare events in general.

I remember being told of one case where a sharp metal object fell into a homeowner’s garden. Not nice at all. The immediate reaction was to conclude it came from an aircraft flying overhead. Speculation then started a new story, and the fear of objects falling from aircraft was intensified.

Subsequently, an investigation found that this metal object had more humble terrestrial origins. In a nearby industrial estate a grinding wheel had shattered at highspeed sending debris flying into the air. Parts of which landed in the garden of the unfortunate near-by resident.

One lesson from this tale is that things may not always be as they first seem. Certainly, with falling objects, it’s as well to do an investigation before blaming an aircraft.

POST 1: There’s a threat outside the atmosphere too. The space industries are ever busier. That old saying about “what goes up, must come down” is true of rockets and space junk. More a hazard to those on the ground, there is still the extreamly unlikly chance of an in-flight aircraft getting hit Unnecessary risks created by uncontrolled rocket reentries | Nature Astronomy

POST 2: EASA Safety Information Bulletin Operations SIB No.: 2022-07 Issued: 28 July 2022, Subject: Re-Entry into Earth’s Atmosphere of Space Debris of Rocket Long March 5B (CZ-5B). This SIB is issued to raise awareness on the expected re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere of the large space object.

[1] https://nypost.com/2019/07/03/man-nearly-killed-by-frozen-body-that-fell-from-plane-is-too-traumatized-to-go-home/

[2] http://concordesst.com/accident/englishreport/12.html

[3] https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/Make-a-report-or-complaint/Ice-falls/

[4] https://metro.co.uk/2017/02/16/10kg-block-of-ice-falls-from-plane-and-smashes-through-mans-garage-roof-6453658/

[5] https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/national-ice-block-falls-aircraft-and-smashes-familys-garden-1078494