Your site is wonderful - thank you for the
detailed information!
I have one quick question.... I am flying
from Manchester to Atlanta on a Delta Airlines Boeing 777 in March - and
a question just came to my mind!
Can a Boeing 777 land on water? If
so, would it float?
Thanks,
Tim
Hi Tim,
Thanks you for
the interesting questions. A Boeing 777 is designed to be capable of
ditching (hope that is what you meant by using the word 'land') safely
on the water and stay afloat. That is why there are 8 slide rafts
in the aircraft capable of accommodating more than 300 passengers in the
event of a safe ditching on the sea.
How long will
the B777 stay afloat on the water will depends on many factors.
Firstly, there must not be substantial damage on the aircraft body to
cause massive leaks. Secondly, the ditching must be properly
executed (it is possible to do so) and the impact with the water surface
must be reduced sufficiently to that of a normal landing profile. The
sea condition must also be reasonably smooth.
According to
Boeing, if the Boeing 777 ditching is properly handled with an optimum
center of gravity and normal gross weight, the airplane should come to a
rest slightly nose high on the water. The forward doors should be
about four and a half feet and the aft doors be about two and a
half feet above the water. At high gross weight, the aft doors may
be less that two feet.
After ditching,
an undamaged Boeing777 will stay afloat for a fairly long time -
something like a drifting boat on the sea!
Hope that my
answers (given on good faith) will ease your mind as you fly from
Manchester to Atlanta!
Have a safe and pleasant flight!
Regards,
KH Lim
