Did you know NASA Crashed a Boeing 720 Into the Desert, 30 years Ago

Thirty years ago today NASA carried out a controlled impact demonstration, known as “the crash in the desert”, in which researchers essentially crashed a Boeing 720 into an dry lake bed. We take a look at every aspect of this crazy experiment and what the aerospace engineers learnt after completing it.

When

The impact occurred on the morning of the 1st of December 1984, after spending nine minutes in the air. Although crashing a plane sounds (reasonably) easy, preparation began four years before the final test-flight occurred. During testing the Boeing spent a total of 16 hours and 22 minutes in the air, including 10 takeoffs and 69 approached landings.

Where

The controlled impact took place on Rogers Dry Lake, at the Dryden Flight Research Facility in Edwards, California. This is an area of arid land located 16 miles south-east of the Mojave Desert.

The facility was originally named after Hugh Dryden, a prominent aeronautical engineer who passed away in 1965. Unfortunately for Dryden and his family, the site was renamed on the 1st of March 2014, this time after Neil Armstrong.

Who

The controlled impact was a joint project between NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Langley Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center and General Electric were also involved in the experiment.

NASA adapted the plane to fly via remote control, similar to an unmanned drone. The plane was controlled from a model cockpit and a CRT monitor (pictured above)

Why

NASA didn’t do it just because they had a spare Boeing 720 and a GoPro laying around, the primary object of the experiment was to investigate an additive that retards fuel flammability. The additive was called FM-9, and when combined with Jet-A fuel creates an anti-misting kerosene (AMK). AMK demonstrated flame-inhabiting properties in the lab, but the FFA wanted to experiment with them in a real-world test.

Because things like this don’t happen very often, the plane was also packed full of new safety innovations ready for testing. These included updated seat belt designs, flight-data recorders, fireproof cabin materials and burn-resistant windows.

The plane was also fitted with structural load measuring equipment, including a horde of instrumented crash dummies in the passenger seats.

Conclusion

The final conclusion on AMK was that it does not provide a sufficient enough benefit in the event of a crash; the FAA concluded that 25 per cent of the passengers would have survived. The organisation estimates passengers in the forward cabin would have had just five seconds before smoke obstruction; passengers in the rear had a leisurely 20 seconds.

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