Meteorite nearly hits plane?

[earth_bound_misfit]

<b>40 seconds from air disaster </b><br /><br />According to this news article NZ Herald an Auckland bound Airbus A340 may have missed the debris by 40sec's with parts coming down in front and behind the aircraft. The sonic boom was also audible in the aircraft.<br /><br /> Edit: Changed Title to reflect possible true cause- Progess ruled out by experts (on here and elsewhere <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> ). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>

 

[scottb50]

Must be some pretty big chunks of garbage. Maybe the Progress is a little over-built. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Oh,<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />um,<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />sorry, me bad.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[no_way]

this was not a Progress

 

[JonClarke]

Definitely not Progress. Wrong place, wrong time. Maybe some unscheduled space junk, or perhaps a boloid.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[3488]

I agree with Jon Clarke. If it was a Progress being de-orbited, the Russians would have taken airline schedules & airliner movements into account, to prevent exactly this type of incident to occur.<br /><br />Could you imagine the hell that would bring, if a Russian Progress re-entry bought down a civilian airliner? Not to mention the demands of millions of Dollars, Euros, Pounds, Roubles, etc in compensation!!!<br /><br />It was either an age old piece of space debris entering the atmosphere or a natural bollide.<br /><br />Perhaps this type of incident will increase, as aviation continues to grow.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

And apparently the LAN Chile flight was approaching Auckland. It was thousands of km away from where Progress came down 12 hours later.<br /><br />But it must have been quite a bolide - the pilots reported hearing bangs.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[j05h]

There's another possibility besides Progress or a bolide. It could be a Cosmos booster stage or other upper stage experiencing deorbit. It would be uncontrolled, high-lattitude and easy to confuse with Progress.<br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[rocketman5000]

How many peices of debris from LEO reenter on a daily basis?

 

[earth_bound_misfit]

"The south Pacific dump site for the progress is a very remote site with no airline traffic."<br /><br />Where is that SG? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>

 

[earth_bound_misfit]

Thanks for that! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>

 

[j05h]

Thanks for the link, S_G! I only saw one article about it with minimal actual info. Sounds like a bolide.<br /><br />j <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[scottb50]

freightening sounding than a bizjet, not knowing quite where he is at a strange airport, day or night....<br /><br />Those amatures who clog up the skies for the superior airline pilots no doubt. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spacester]

Yeah, that paints a vivid picture, news. Feel free to expand on that thought? <br /><br />I'm thinking the bizjet guy actually may need superior piloting skills compared to large commercial Captains, 'zat true? The lack of routine, strange airports, etc. sounds demanding. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[scottb50]

I don't think it's really any more or less demanding whether your flying an airliner than a business jet. True the airlines have dispatch departments to sift through the preflight information for them, but the corporate pilot has access to the same stuff.<br /><br />Training and testing are also just as stringent and most of it is carried out by the same training facilities in the same class of simulators.<br /><br />The old falicy that we have a hugely over-built ATC system is the airlines need protection from all those inept private pilots. Private pilot and corporate pilot are seen as synonomous. What is really rediculous the FAA comes up with massively elaborate airspace management schemes and lays all the responsibility to adhere to it on the pilots it considers the least capable. No one tells you you are approaching a change in airspace requirements, different tiers to terminal areas, restricted airspace, military training area ect. You are simply forced to buy a map and figure it out yourself. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[no_way]

maybe call chinese and ask what were they aiming at this time ?

 

[earth_bound_misfit]

An update:<br /><br /><b>Airliner's near-miss blamed on meteorite</b><br />NZHearld<br />Experts now doubt that the fiery fragments that narrowly missed an Auckland-bound aircraft were the remains of a Russian satellite. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

"the Russians would have taken airline schedules & airliner movements into account, "<br /><br />The Russians do not take any schedules into account. They plan for a sparsely located area and let aviations officials know.

 

[vulture2]

"The pilot estimated the debris to be falling as close as 5 nautical miles (5.8 statute miles or 9.2 kilometers) to the aircraft."<br /><br />Distances are difficult to estimate at night; a large meteor could be many kilometers away. The probability of a large meteor, or even a piece of space debris, striking an aircraft is extraordinarily low. In space, orbiting debris can be a hazard for months or years. In the atmosphere at flight altitudes it is present for only minutes or seconds. <br /><br />the pilot "reported that the rumbling noise from the space debris could be heard over the noise of the aircraft".<br /><br />The cause of the noise the pilots reported is not clear; given the noise level in an aircraft even a sonic boom would be difficult to hear, and a sonic boom is not usually described as "rumbling". Intense radio noise can accompany large meteors and is a possibility. <br />

 

[bdewoody]

I still think that they totally overlooked this type of event as a possible reason for the downing of the TWA 747 Flight 800. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[3488]

Was that off coast the Long Island downing????<br /><br />Could be. The official line was an nearly empty fuel tank, filling that particular tank with fumes & something sparked it. It was never fully explained. <br /><br />So yes, it could be an overlooked factor.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>