SilkAir Flight 185 crash vs. United flight 93 and American Airlines Flight 77

SilkAir Flight 185, a Boeing 737-36N crashed on 19 December 1997 after abruptly plunging into the Musi River. NTSB concluded that the crash resulted from an intentional act by a pilot. But the Superior Court in Los Angeles decided that the crash was caused by a defective servo valve inside the Power Control Unit (PCU) which controls the rudder, causing a rudder hard-over and crash. The manufacturer of the aircraft's rudder controls and the families later reached an out of court settlement.

It went into a nearly vertical dive at full speed into the river. Only small parts of the plane was recovered from the river, and only six people were identified. This part is very similar to what happened to United 93 and AA 77.
This crash backs up part of the official story.
I have one question though..

Flight 185 broke into pieces and based on the multiple debris fields United 93 did also. But how come AA77 didn't?

The aircraft broke into pieces before impact, with the debris spread over several kilometres, though most of the wreckage was concentrated in a single 60x80 meter area at the river bottom. There was not a complete body, body part or limb found, as the entire aircraft and passengers disintegrated upon impact. Only six positive identifications were later obtained from the few recovered human remains.

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking.

Are you asking why wasnt there a debris field at the Pentagon like the SilkAir flight?

If so, then the reason is quite simple and obvious. Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon at high speed. Any debris would be inside, and most of it was. Some was scattered outside on the lawn from the blast, but a majority was inside. Dont forget, the building was burning inside and the debris would have been melted down and/or buried from the collapsing section as well. No need for a reconstruction either, since the cause of the crash was understood.

Originally posted by GenRadek
I'm not exactly sure what you are asking.

Are you asking why wasnt there a debris field at the Pentagon like the SilkAir flight?

If so, then the reason is quite simple and obvious. Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon at high speed. Any debris would be inside, and most of it was. Some was scattered outside on the lawn from the blast, but a majority was inside. Dont forget, the building was burning inside and the debris would have been melted down and/or buried from the collapsing section as well. No need for a reconstruction either, since the cause of the crash was understood.

I'm under the impression that hauling as$ at such a low altitude cause the plane to start braking up due to the thick atmosphere. Flight 93 had multiple debris sites. I think there could be two scenarios for this to happen.... 1) the plane was shot down, 2) It started braking up due to the thick atmosphere and high speed. After learning about the SilkAir crash, scenario # 2 seams more realistic.

Now we get to the flight 77... High speed at low altitude, even hit a few light poles, but it was intact all the way until impact. How come nothing fell off the plane before it slammed into the Pentagon? Am I missing something?

Forgot to put a link for this quote...

19 December 1997 - SilkAir 185

The aircraft broke into pieces before impact, with the debris spread over several kilometres, though most of the wreckage was concentrated in a single 60x80 meter area at the river bottom. There was not a complete body, body part or limb found, as the entire aircraft and passengers disintegrated upon impact. Only six positive identifications were later obtained from the few recovered human remains.

edit on 25-6-2013 by whatsecret because: (no reason given)

reply to post by whatsecret


Well according to all accounts the aircraft stayed intact the whole way in. The erroneous belief that the plane traveling so low and s fast should have helped it break apart is based on a flawed understanding of aerodynamics. It is not the first time civilian airliners traveled so fast so low in one piece:





Plus putting the airliner into a gentle dive and accelerating, it can easily hit almost Mach 1 at such low level. Obviously airliners do not do this routinely as it is dangerous and also puts extra stresses on the aircraft. However, it would not make it break up in such a short amount of time. There have been a few instances where aircraft like the 747 broke the sound barrier in crash dives and came out intact save for some structural damage. A DC-8 went into a shallow dive and broke Mach 1 as well. Again it is doable, just the reason why they dont do it is it is bad for the plane. Thats why you dont redline your engine every time you start off a STOP sign.

reply to post by whatsecret


Also Flight 93 was intact until impact. The second debris field was found downwind of the crash site and consisted of light airborne debris like papers, insulation, mail, fabric, etc. This was stuff that could easily be picked up, or sucked up, in the fireball on impact and then carried by the wind farther down.

reply to post by whatsecret


No, it only starts to break up in level flight at high speed if it passes a speed the airframe is capable of handling. Even in a dive sometimes a commercial aircraft will maintain integrity at incredible speeds, as long as no hard maneuvers are executed. Egypt Air 990 went into a dive and dropped 14,000+ feet in 36 seconds, and the only damage suffered before impact was the loss of the left engine, and some small pieces of aircraft, and that was very close to impact as they were found 1200 feet away from the main debris field.