Passengers sitting in the rear of a plane have the best chance of survival in the event of a crash, an extraordinary and costly aviation experiment ever conducted has revealed. |
Beware first-class travellers! Passengers sitting in the rear of a plane have the best chance of survival in the event of a crash, an extraordinary and costly aviation experiment ever conducted has revealed. In a unique aviation experiment recently, the 170-seat Boeing 727 was made to crash in a controlled manner in a remote part of Mexico's Sonoran Desert. After pilot James Slocum parachuted out of the plane at 2,500ft, the jet was guided into the ground by a pilot in a following Cessna via a remote-control device, the reporters reported. On board the jet were three sophisticated crash-test dummies designed to move like humans. They were arranged in three positions: one in the classic brace and wearing a seat-belt; one belted but not in the brace position; and one neither belted nor in the brace. After the jet hit the ground nose-first, experts found that the dummy in the brace position would have survived the impact, the one not in the brace would have suffered serious head injuries, and the dummy not wearing a seat-belt would have perished. Using this, experts predicted that 78 percent of passengers on board would have survived the impact, but that coming down nose-first, all the first-class travellers would have died because the front of the fuselage sheared off. Those sitting at the back would have had the best chance of survival. The 1 million pound project, to be screened on Channel 4 next month, aimed to recreate a serious but survivable incident and allow scientists to study the crashworthiness of the aircraft's frame and cabin, as well as the impact on the human body. It is also hoped that the findings may help increase the chances of passengers surviving such a crash in the future. The Boeing was packed with dozens of cameras to record the impact from the inside. Footage was also collected on the ground, in chase planes, and even from the ejecting pilot's helmet. (Read by Rosie Tuck. Rosie Tuck is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
頭等艙的乘客要當(dāng)心了!一項(xiàng)耗資巨大的特別飛行試驗(yàn)揭示,在墜機(jī)事故中生還機(jī)會最大的是坐在飛機(jī)尾部的乘客。 在近日開展的一項(xiàng)獨(dú)特的飛行試驗(yàn)中,一架有170個座位的波音727飛機(jī)被控墜落在墨西哥索諾拉沙漠的一個偏遠(yuǎn)地帶。 據(jù)報(bào)道,在飛行員詹姆斯?索羅克姆于2500英尺高空跳傘離開飛機(jī)后,后面跟著的賽斯納飛機(jī)上的一名飛行員用遙控設(shè)備操縱飛機(jī)向地面降落。 試驗(yàn)飛機(jī)上有三具精密的墜機(jī)測試專用人偶,這些假人的四肢可以像真人一樣移動。 它們以三種姿勢擺放:一個人偶用標(biāo)準(zhǔn)方式系緊安全帶,一個人偶扣上安全帶但沒系牢,還有一個人偶完全沒有系安全帶。 在飛機(jī)以頭朝地的形式墜落到地面后,專家發(fā)現(xiàn),安全帶系得很緊的人偶會逃過墜機(jī)這一劫,松松地系著安全帶的人偶頭部會嚴(yán)重受傷,沒有系安全帶的人偶會毀掉。 根據(jù)這一試驗(yàn)結(jié)果,專家預(yù)測,78%的飛機(jī)乘客會生還,但因?yàn)轱w機(jī)是頭朝下落地,所以所有頭等艙的乘客都會死亡,因?yàn)闄C(jī)身前端被削掉了。 那些坐在飛機(jī)尾部的乘客生還機(jī)會最大。 這一耗資100萬英鎊的試驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目將于下個月在第四頻道播放。該項(xiàng)目的目的是通過再現(xiàn)一場嚴(yán)重但有生還機(jī)會的墜機(jī)事故,讓科學(xué)家研究飛機(jī)機(jī)架和機(jī)艙的耐撞性能,以及墜機(jī)對人體的影響。 研究人員還希望這些研究結(jié)果能有助于提高未來這樣的墜機(jī)事故中乘客的生還幾率。 這架波音飛機(jī)上安裝了幾十個攝像機(jī),從飛機(jī)內(nèi)部來記錄墜機(jī)影響力。地面上、跟蹤的飛機(jī)、甚至跳傘飛行員的頭盔內(nèi)也安裝了攝像頭來采集視頻。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: dummy: 人體模型,假人 perish: 死亡;毀滅 fuselage: 機(jī)身 crashworthiness: 耐撞性能 eject: (從宇宙飛船、飛機(jī))把……彈射出來 |