jnmeade
Cleared for Takeoff
By the looks was the impact more from the side than from the front?
Well, whether it was an approach light stantion or the localizer antenna array, they at typically within a few feet of the ground. A 737 in the landing configuration and on speed will have a nose up attitude of a few degrees. The wheels will hit the array before the nose will.Help me understand why you say the gear would have hit first? The only way I can picture that is if the plane was a VTOL type.
UPDATE: https://www.thedigitalcircuit.com/breaking-mozambique-incident-not-a-drone-collision/
Not a drone.
"...on the AV Herald website. It states the following:
“On Jan 10th 2017 Mozambique’s Civil Aviation Authority reported that they concluded the radome most probably failed as result of a structural failure caused by air flow pressure, contributing factors probably were a defective installation of the radome and inspection of the ribs.
“A foreign object damage was ruled out.”
The aircraft fwd pressure bulkhead is aft of the radome. The radome is not normally under pressurization load.Well, that would seem to make a bit more sense.
How does that radome equalize pressure on descent, and how would improper installation cause failure? Sealant over a vent?
The aircraft fwd pressure bulkhead is aft of the radome. The radome is not normally under pressurization load.
The radar wave guide is pressurized but I believe the drain slot at the bottom of the radome could adequately vent it. It would take quite a bit of sealant to seal it.
The radome is honeycomb composite (Nomex), I suspect an improper repair.
and why is the damage only to one side?Im sure cracks propagated more rapidly under heavier load, they just finally reached their failure point.