posted by
janrinok
on Monday November 20 2017, @12:09AM
from the destruction-is-a-safety-feature dept.
from the destruction-is-a-safety-feature dept.
"The world's longest aircraft dubbed the 'Flying Bum' was seriously damaged on Saturday after it slipped its moorings and crashed into a field....
'The aircraft has a safety system which operates automatically in circumstances of the aircraft breaking free of its mast, and is designed to rip open the hull and deflate the aircraft.'"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5095481/
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Airlander 10 Comes Unmoored and the Safety Features Work as Planned
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snotnose on Monday November 20 2017, @12:19AM (1 child)
Something bad happened. Someone foresaw such an event and had an H1-B code for it. The code worked as planned.
Everything went right, except for the aforementioned bad thing. Why is this such a big deal?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday November 20 2017, @12:49AM
The world's biggest aircraft crashed into a woman. It was destroyed but she survived. You're welcome, go out and give a big Thank You to Editor Janrinok and the subscribers who brought you the news and, HAVE A GREAT LIFE! Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @01:17AM (17 children)
Deflation is the last thing you'd want. The aircraft then crushes whatever is below.
Better would be remote control and/or staying put at a reasonable altitude. An altitude above buildings but low enough to be reached by helicopter is reasonable, allowing the vehicle to be boarded for recovery.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Monday November 20 2017, @01:31AM (13 children)
Helicopter?
Its a gas bag, How do you get to the cockpit which is under-slung, and un-approachable with a helicopter? Have you never seen any pictures? Too lazy to click the link?
So, NO, deflation is not the last thing you's want. It was the FIRST thing they wanted so that it would slowly descend and land. It comes down slow enough that you can get the hell out of the way. The complete craft is salvageable.
Why would you presume to come here and say the First failsafe they designed in from the start would be the last thing they would want? Where do you get such credentials ?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @03:58AM (11 children)
Fly the helicopter well above, high enough that rotor downwash isn't a problem. Lower a person. Have the person hook a safety harness onto a rope that wraps around the aircraft. (the helicopter leaves) Have the person descend on the rope as a mountain climber would, then enter the cockpit.
Deflation needn't be a built-in feature. If that is desired, it can be performed by most military aircraft. Holes from 20 mm shells are fixable.
If you can't get into the aircraft and take control, the next best option is probably to shoot it down over farmland. Random descent is more of a hazard.
(Score: 5, Touché) by edIII on Monday November 20 2017, @04:26AM (7 children)
Ok, I have to admit this is exciting. We've progressed from a boring deflation where it may not move that far away from the moorings anyways, to an exciting series of death-defying activities!
Who can wait for #7? I predict orbital bombardment. Only way to be sure, and the safety that is gained is worth it.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Monday November 20 2017, @04:33AM (4 children)
Yea! Fuck these flimsy half-measures! Destroy this civilization to the last man and they'll never have an airship mishap again.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Mykl on Monday November 20 2017, @04:58AM (1 child)
The problem here is that this thing is filled with Helium. To make it truly safe, use Hydrogen instead. Then if it slips the moorings, have a mechanism ignite the Hydrogen. Hopefully the whole thing burns up before it has a chance to plummet to the ground as an incandescent death-trap.
As a bonus, it will be easy to find if this happens at night!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday November 20 2017, @06:05PM
> have a mechanism ignite the Hydrogen
Mr Kim made me a good offer on a Tritium-Deuterium device that should do the trick.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 20 2017, @08:21AM (1 child)
"Destroy this civilization to the last man"
Don't forget the women. At least one of those wenches is hiding a pregnancy!! And, all the little boys and girls who might create more pregnancies when we aren't looking!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @09:59PM
Of course we're not looking: it's illegal to look!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 20 2017, @08:26AM
I like the antiaircraft bit. AC thinks those little 20mm (or 30mm, or whatever they might be - they do come in various sizes) just make a puncture, and then what - stop? He doesn't have a clue that they are incindiary and explosive, with proximity fuses. That's why those warlords in Africa liked them so much. Sweep an AA gun across a village, and the village is history, along with any inhabitants still inside.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday November 20 2017, @10:43AM
7. keep pilot aboard on watch all time, have helium leak into the cabin, watches as he gives SOS with chipmunk voice. This will not avert disaster but at least some good memes will come out of it.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday November 20 2017, @04:59AM (2 children)
Truly, the stupid is strong in this AC. Even a full frojack is not enough to make him envisage the errors of his thinking. Just lower a rope, over the side of the blimp, so that someone could hang there and look longingly at a cockpit. Pervert.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @08:39AM (1 child)
The rope goes around the aircraft. There could be an attachment point every 10 feet. The rope runs from the top of the aircraft down to the cockpit.
Remote control is fine too. It definitely beats automatic deflation.
Of course the real answer is to not fuck up like this. They designed in an automatic deflation system because they knew they were cutting corners on the restraint system.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 20 2017, @06:10PM
Building the system that never fails is immensely expensive. And when it fails, you still need a plan B.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday November 20 2017, @04:17AM
As near as I can tell, probably Chuck E' Cheese's, or any of your fine novelty shops that sell muff diver t-shirts and Area 51 security cards. I think right next to the 25c machines where you can get wash-off tats.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 20 2017, @04:31AM (1 child)
No, it's not. First, there was nothing below the vehicle to crush.
And a number of the bad things that can cause such loss of control can also make it extremely hazardous to "reach" said airship by helicopter.
Finally, an out of control airship is an ongoing disaster, you don't know what airplane, power line, high population center, prohibited area, delicate country border, etc it will run into when you stabilize at altitude and let it roam with the winds. Better to bring it down in the field you know is empty than to let it run into something that might not be.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Monday November 20 2017, @10:46AM
> delicate country border
OTOH deliberately attacking, say, NK, with ass shaped airlanders would be tactical genius. You could have the entire country under control before the first sentinel finds the words to alert superiors. Make them pink as a bonus.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @06:35AM
Clearly the aircraft should fax a series of contracts to all homes below, or if they partner up with a web 2.0 company they can email out the forms. Then all parties can handle the foreseeable outcomes through their voluntary agreements.
(Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Monday November 20 2017, @01:18AM
from not being-able-to-fly, to flying-and-crashing (twice), they are now at 'automated controlled decent in emergency'. I'd say they are improving, slowly.
How many years until commercial flights?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @01:53AM
It'd be a bummer if something were to happen to it.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @03:08AM (4 children)
Helium cannot not be "made" yet (Fusion), so we wasted needed gas to space.
Damn it, use Hydrogen. We got a lot in the sea. In emergency, it can be flared off - back to water it goes., just to be used again!
(Score: 2) by BK on Monday November 20 2017, @04:29AM (2 children)
I mean, it's a good idea you have there but Oh! The humanity!
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Monday November 20 2017, @09:02AM (1 child)
... Oh! The Hindenburg! FTFY
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday November 20 2017, @09:26AM
You didn't fix anything, as nothing was broken. In fact, it was you who broke something - the Herbert Morrison quote.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by captain_nifty on Monday November 20 2017, @09:09PM
Actually helium is made pretty continuously by a number of radioactive sources, no fusion required. Alpha emitters emit alpha radiation particles which are the same as a helium nucleus, which will quickly find some electrons and form helium. The problem is collecting them in any quantity.
This is where the helium in underground wells comes from, alpha decay from uranium in the surrounding rocks, which accumulates in underground natural gas pockets.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday November 20 2017, @10:24AM (2 children)
Finally, some unix philosophy adoption.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday November 20 2017, @06:09PM (1 child)
Is hull ripping a segmentation fault, if it's by design?
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday November 21 2017, @12:51PM
Well, if it happens at the seams you can see it as a fault...
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 20 2017, @02:13PM
It's a pity. The pics look like it's something everyone would have walked away from, though. Can that be said for jumbo jets that lose control?
I hope they recover from this and bring lighter-than-air travel to the world. I would much rather travel by zeppelin and see the Earth that I'm crossing, and be able to get up and walk around the cabin in comfort, than arrive in a couple of hours of blind cattle car with full de-humanization achieved.
Washington DC delenda est.