Could a Kite bring a plane down?

[Artemis_Tardis]

(I start many of my threads with a Let’s say…)

Let’s say Little Jimmy is flying his kite near by the airport. A distracted pilot is landing his plane, when he manages to hit Jimmy’s kite. By luck, or maybe lack of it, the kite manages to mangle itself inside the plane’s engine. As the kite is made out of paper, wood and string it is pretty obvious it will catch on fire. Could that cause an accident?

[GaryM]

Supposedly a kite took down a helicopter when the line, which was very long, wrapped around the actuating rods that control the blades angle of attack.

Jimmy

[hibernicus]

@Artemis_Tardis

(I start many of my threads with a Let’s say…)

Let’s say Little Jimmy is flying his kite near by the airport. A distracted pilot is landing his plane, when he manages to hit Jimmy’s kite. By luck, or maybe lack of it, the kite manages to mangle itself inside the plane’s engine. As the kite is made out of paper, wood and string it is pretty obvious it will catch on fire. Could that cause an accident?

A kite passing through a jet engine compressor won’t go on fire. In the best case it will come out the back of the engine (very shortly after entering, and not in usable condition).

If the kite or string material wraps itself round one or more compressor blades, it will create a rotor imbalance. Which can be very bad, but not necessarily immediately.

If it was a propellor aircraft or a rotor craft as described by the previous poster, I can imagine a situation where a kite string winds tightly around the shaft and causes the engine to stop.

[dropzone]

Barrage kites were designed to bring down aircraft.

England 1940 ~ The British Admiralty introduced a barrage kite to protect Naval Destroyers. The Hargrave double box kites were adorned with suspended wires or dangling bombs as a deterrent to aerial enemy attack.

United States 1941 ~ The Barrage Balloon and Kite School was opened in New York City. Saul’s barrage kites were flown on wire lines and capable of shearing wings, which was very effective against enemy dive-bombers. Canisters of explosives were attached to the piano type wire used to fly the kites. At one time 3,300 of the Saul’s Barrage kites flew from the sterns of Merchant ships carrying cargo from the United States and Canada to Europe.

http://www.kitehistory.com/Miscellaneous/Warkites.htm

They were rather larger than Little Jimmy’s X Men kite.

[Hermitian]

Considering that most passenger jet engines today are designed to handle decent sized birds (bones included), I think it would be pretty unlikely that string and a few ounces of thin wood would seriously affect an engine.

Of course I wouldn’t want to chance it, and if I was the pilot I would want to land to have it checked out, but I would not panic.

[Iggy]

I know our Air Traffic Controllers call us at 9-1-1 if a kite is flying in the approach path near the airport. They don’t kid around and the police will deal with it as a priority.

[lazybratsche]

@Hermitian

Considering that most passenger jet engines today are designed to handle decent sized birds (bones included), I think it would be pretty unlikely that string and a few ounces of thin wood would seriously affect an engine.

Of course I wouldn’t want to chance it, and if I was the pilot I would want to land to have it checked out, but I would not panic.

I don’t think most jet engines are designed to function after a large bird strike. Rather, they are designed so they don’t fail catastrophically. So if a goose goes into the engine of a 737, it won’t explode and take the wing off with it, but it’ll stop working and the plane can land safely with the remaining engine.

[engineer_comp_geek]

@Hermitian

Considering that most passenger jet engines today are designed to handle decent sized birds (bones included), I think it would be pretty unlikely that string and a few ounces of thin wood would seriously affect an engine.

Jet engines are tested to handle bird strikes, but birds still put US. Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson.

I wouldn’t expect a kite to reliably bring down an airplane, but like you said, I wouldn’t want to chance it either.

[md2000]

@lazybratsche

I don’t think most jet engines are designed to function after a large bird strike. Rather, they are designed so they don’t fail catastrophically. So if a goose goes into the engine of a 737, it won’t explode and take the wing off with it, but it’ll stop working and the plane can land safely with the remaining engine.

…in the Hudson River.

[GusNSpot]

And then there is balloon busting games at flyins. No string though.

[wolfpup]

@md2000

…in the Hudson River.

In that situation, both engines hit geese and both engines failed. The loss of both engines at a very low altitude is what made the successful ditching so remarkable.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@hibernicus

A kite passing through a jet engine compressor won’t go on fire. In the best case it will come out the back of the engine (very shortly after entering, and not in usable condition).

There have been cases where a sailor on an aircraft carrier went in the wrong place and got sucked into a jet engine – and promptly came out the other end as a fine bloody mist. And a human body & bones are much larger & harder than your average kite.

[hibernicus]

@t-bonham@scc.net

There have been cases where a sailor on an aircraft carrier went in the wrong place and got sucked into a jet engine – and promptly came out the other end as a fine bloody mist. And a human body & bones are much larger & harder than your average kite.

I’m not sure if your intention is correcting something I said. If so please point out where we are in disagreement.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@hibernicus

I’m not sure if your intention is correcting something I said. If so please point out where we are in disagreement.

I don’t think we are.
Just pointing out that a jet engine can devour things much larger than birds, so a typical kite would be nothing.

[GusNSpot]

Yves Rossy just might have a different outlook. I know Tweety Bird drivers do. ( Cessna T-37 )