Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 September 27

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September 27

Was there any way the passengers and crew on United 93 could've survived the crash?

Obviously this is a difficult question to answer, since none of them did survive in the end. But seeing as United 93 was the only plane that was not crashed head-on into a building, was there any chance of survival for the people on-board even with it being nosedived into the ground upside-down at over 500 mph, or is that kind of impact pretty much a guaranteed death sentence? Hmm1994 (talk) 06:47, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Link: United Airlines Flight 93.

Pretty much guaranteed. Crashes at much lower speeds than that are typically deadly unless the plane attempts some sort of proper landing. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:19, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

No. An uncontrolled vertical crash is not survivable under any reasonable circumstances, even at lower speeds and altitudes. See United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427. Acroterion (talk) 12:24, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

One exception I can think of is a fighter pilot with a parachute and an ejector seat. The average commercial aircraft lacks those things. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:40, 30 September 2022 (UTC)