1 September 2015
NASA is deliberately crashing Cessna 172 aircraft to test and improve Emergency Locator Transmitters. NASA’s Search and Rescue Mission Office simulated a severe but survivable aircraft accident, dropping the 172 from 100ft on control lines. Video cameras installed all around the aircraft captured the experiment, including some inside to view what happens to the crash test dummies.
The last of three crash tests of three different Cessna 172 aircraft took place last week, watched by the former owner of the aircraft and his family. Bill Corbett flew the 172 for 25 years as a fish spotter for the commercial fishing industry. They all stood rapt as the 1974 Cessna 172 plunged 100 feet, its nose pitched up, tail angled down, then struck a pile of dirt and flipped over with a brutal, tail-snapping crunch.
When Bill decided to donate his plane to science, he didn’t realise it would end up in a drop test. “I figured I could talk y’all into sending it to Mars or something,” he joked.
The three crash tests will provide valuable data on the Cessna 172’s ELTs which will, in turn, said NASA, lead to better guidance on how to install the ELTs so they’re more likely to work after a crash.
