Channel 4 to crash a commercial airliner

supremenovice · 07-01-2010 11:31pm #1

Seen in a copy of one of those Airline monthly mags that Channel 4, that bastion of cultural programming, is to organise a crash of a jet (cant remember the model) in the American desert later this year.
The pilots will eject at the last minute and cameras onboard will study how the plane reacts before it crashes.

Personally, I pity the passengers

Mr Benevolent · 08-01-2010 3:13am

supremenovice wrote: »

Seen in a copy of one of those Airline monthly mags that Channel 4, that bastion of cultural programming, is to organise a crash of a jet (cant remember the model) in the American desert later this year.
The pilots will eject at the last minute and cameras onboard will study how the plane reacts before it crashes.

Personally, I pity the passengers

It's been done. There's no way they'd put pilots in the aircraft, ejection seats are very risky things to use on the whim of a camera crew. Besides, the FAA would never, ever allow ejection seats in an airliner. It'll be remote control. Just C4 hyping it up.

ian_m · 08-01-2010 11:07am

I read about this aswell...

Channel 4 is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy and crash an empty airline plane in the desert.

‘Plane Crash’ will see two pilots parachute from the 300-seat airliner after setting it on autopilot to crash at high speed.

The plane will be loaded with cameras and sensors recording the impact of the crash, which Channel 4 claims will provide invaluable information about how planes react in potentially fatal accidents.

Julian Bellamy, the head of Channel 4, said Plane Crash would be "one of the most ambitious and audacious TV events of 2010", that only “Channel 4 would be brave enough to do".

"Not even aircraft manufacturers have crashed something this big," he added.

Critics have dismissed the stunt as “gimmicky” and potentially “harmful for the environment”.

Programme makers are keeping the location of the crash secret but it will take place in The Americas, according to sources.

In a separate programme, Channel 4 will recreate a typical row of 1940s terraced houses before blowing them up with bombs identical to those used by the German airforce during the Second World War.

Blitz Street is a four part series presented by Tony Robinson, which will show the houses being ‘bombed’ over a week in order to examine the "profound psychological phenomenon" of the Blitz spirit.

Built on a military base and with the help of Ministry of Defence scientists, the street is subjected to the same range of real large-scale high explosives and incendiaries – similar to those used by the Luftwaffe. The bombs will range in size from 25kg to nearly 1000kg.

Vivienne Pattison, the director of MediaWatch, said: “It is not the job of channel 4 to test safety of planes, surely it’s a job for Boeing. This feels like a gimmick to get advertising and I’m not entirely sure what the viewer will get from this, all these things going up in smoke, maybe it symbolises Channel 4 going up in smoke.”

“Questions need to be asked about the environmental damage that these programmes will do” she added.

The costs of the Plane Crash, which will air on Channel 4 by the middle of next year, are being shared by its international co-producers, National Geographic Channel and the German television channel ProSieben.

Ralph Lee, head of Channel 4's specialist factual programmes said: "We are working with the local environment agencies to ensure a proper clean-up and to make sure we don't leave anything behind."

UK Telegraph

Plowman · 08-01-2010 11:37pm

This post has been deleted.

Steyr · 08-01-2010 11:51pm

Plowman wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It was never mentioned as to what type.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/12/plane-crash-tv-channel-4

A passenger jet is to be deliberately crash-landed as part of a scientific experiment on Channel 4 that the broadcaster hopes will be one of its biggest hits of next year.

Two pilots will parachute from the 300-seat airliner after setting it on autopilot to crash at high speed into the desert. The plane will be loaded with cameras and sensors recording the impact of the crash, which Channel 4 said would provide invaluable information about how planes react in potentially fatal accidents.

The time and location of the crash are being kept under wraps by the broadcaster, which will air the documentary, Plane Crash, next year.

In a separate programme, Channel 4 will recreate a typical row of 1940s terraced houses before blowing them up with bombs identical to those used by the German airforce during the war, including a V2 rocket.

It said the series Blitz Street would examine the "profound psychological phenomenon" of the Blitz spirit.

The head of Channel 4, Julian Bellamy, said Plane Crash would be "one of the most ambitious and audacious TV events of 2010".

"It is an extraordinary idea and only Channel 4 would be brave enough to do it," he said today. "Not even aircraft manufacturers have crashed something this big."

The programme-makers said footage and data from the plane would provide an "unprecedented insight" into what happens when a plane crashes, enabling experts to study how areas such as seatbelt design, seat arrangement and overhead baggage can have an impact on passenger safety.

"As well as making spectacular television, we hope Plane Crash will be one of the most useful experiments ever in the history of aviation," said producer Geoff Deehan, of independent production company Dragonfly.

"It will give us unprecedented answers to the big question: how can we make air crashes more survivable?"

The plane will be piloted by two former US navy pilots, who will set its autopilot to crash-land before ejecting from the airliner. In case of system failure, it will also be remote controlled from a helicopter and from another control unit on the ground.

The idea for the programme grew out of the crash of a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow airport in January last year. It baffled aeronautical engineers because the structure of the plane did not react the way scientific modelling had predicted.

Channel 4 refused to reveal when or where the plane would crash, or even which continent it would be on. However, it will not be in the UK.

"We are working with the local environment agencies to ensure a proper clean-up and to make sure we don't leave anything behind," said Channel 4's head of specialist factual, Ralph Lee.

"It's going to be designed as a survivable crash. There is no point in atomising the plane – we wouldn't learn anything from it."

Asked about those viewers who will watch for purely voyeuristic reasons, Lee said: "If people tune in for the wrong reasons and learn something from it, then I am quite comfortable with that. Informing and entertaining are not separate categories."

The costs of the documentary, which will air on Channel 4 by the middle of next year, are being shared by its international co-producers, National Geographic Channel and the German television channel ProSieben. Lee said the budget was "not outrageous".

Blitz Street will be presented by Tony Robinson. "70 years on it explores the profound psychological phenomenon that was the 'Blitz spirit' via the recreation of a typical row of 1940s terraced houses," said Channel 4.

"The houses are subjected to a range of high explosives and incendiaries, similar to those used by the Luftwaffe, to give a new perspective on this period of British history."

Steyr · 08-01-2010 11:55pm

Just found another article its going to be a 300 seat passenger wide body aircraft,

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/channel-4-to-crash-300seat-jet-into-desert-1819415.html

Channel 4 to crash 300-seat jet into desert

By Katie Hodge, Press Association
Thursday, 12 November 2009

Two pilots will parachute from a passenger jet before it crash-lands at high speed in an empty desert as part of a scientific experiment to be screened on television next year.

Viewers will be able to watch as the pilots board the plane before setting it on a collision course for the Channel 4 documentary.

Plane Crash is expected to give scientists invaluable information about how aircraft react in potentially fatal accidents.

The 300-seat wide-bodied passenger jet will be loaded with cameras and sensors, along with crash test dummies taking the place of passengers and crew.

The landing site will be filmed from every angle.

Broadcasters expect the footage and data will give scientists an "unprecedented insight" into what happens when a plane crashes, enabling experts to study how areas such as seatbelt design, seat arrangement and overhead baggage can have an impact on passenger safety.

Producer Geoff Deehan, at Dragonfly Film and Television Productions Ltd, said: "As well as making spectacular television, we hope Plane Crash will be one of the most useful experiments ever in the history of aviation, an experiment devised, run and supervised by some of the world's leading aviation experts - experts who are consulted by all the world's leading aircraft manufacturers on aircraft safety, crashworthiness and survivability.

"It will give us unprecedented answers to the big question: how can we make air crashes more survivable?"

Prof R John Hansman, one of the scientists involved in the experiment, said the crash would give experts a "rare" opportunity to examine a crash test on a "full-scale aircraft".

"Much of our understanding of aircraft impact phenomena comes from accident investigations where we only have limited data," he said.

"It is rare to be able to instrument an aircraft to be able to document what is going on inside and outside of the aircraft during a crash event.

"This will provide valuable data to calibrate models of crash dynamics, forces on the passengers, and post-crash fire. We often crash-test automobiles but we rarely are able to conduct crash tests on full-scale aircraft."

The T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics added: "This will be a remarkable opportunity to increase passenger survivability."

The documentary has been announced as part of the new season on Channel 4.

Programme makers are keeping the location of the crash under wraps but say they have overcome the "known obstacles" and are ready to press ahead with the purchase of the passenger jet.

The aircraft, a secondhand plane, will crash-land in such a way that it will not be completely destroyed, simulating the most common type of serious - and survivable - incident.

The identities of the two pilots have yet to be announced but they are understood to have backgrounds with the US navy.