# If the cockpit fell off a airliner while in mid-flight, could it be landed safely? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779 "2017-05-16T19:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/61 "2017-05-19T15:34:54Z")
Now that all the serious answers are out of the way… > [@Tranquilis](#): > > Should I put titanium armor on top of my car to shield against falling cockpits? Of course not. [Some of them are built so that the front doesn’t fall of at all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM). Oil tankers, airplanes, all sorts of things the fronts not supposed to fall off of. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/62 "2017-05-19T15:47:18Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Now that all the serious answers are out of the way… > > Of course not. [Some of them are built so that the front doesn’t fall of at all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM). Oil tankers, airplanes, all sorts of things the fronts not supposed to fall off of. I suppose that rules out cardboard, and cardboard derivatives, then. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/63 "2017-05-19T16:00:30Z")
Maybe you should just be safe and keep your car outside the environment, where there aren’t any planes the fronts not supposed to fall off of. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/64 "2017-05-19T16:14:37Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > I suppose that rules out cardboard, and cardboard derivatives, then. If [pykrete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete#During_World_War_II) is good enough for an aircraft carrier, might as well use it for aircrafts. A collateral benefit would be snake brumation. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/65 "2017-05-19T16:40:33Z")
The extra good news is that a pykrete airplane would be too heavy to fly. So when the cockpit does fall off, it won’t have far to fall and won’t pick up too much speed before it hits the ground 5 feet below. Nor will it land out in public; it’ll be sitting right there on the ramp next to the rest of the airplane. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779/66 "2017-05-19T22:37:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Serious answer: It comes up in the trade press fairly regularly. > > Non-serious answer: Here in Miami a lot more stuff gets smuggled than just cocaine. e.g. “This engine was only used by a little old lady to fly to a charity village orphanage on Sundays.” 🙂 > [@Tranquilis](#): > > Well, there’s that. Then there’s the counterfiet parts market. Yes, that’s a thing. Definitely a thing. I’ve seen counterfeit hardware and hose & tube fittings that were obvious fakes, even though they came with the “correct” Certificate of Conformity, several times. One customer at a former employer thought they had found a good deal on a gearbox for us to install in their helicopter… until it showed up on our hangar floor and quickly proved to be a spraypaint overhaul of a leaky, run-out unit. We had to get the FAA (and both the customer’s and my employer’s insurance companies and lawyers) involved with that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-cockpit-fell-off-a-airliner-while-in-mid-flight-could-it-be-landed-safely/786779.md?page=3)