# What happens to in-flight airlines and manned space craft in a nuclear war?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-in-flight-airlines-and-manned-space-craft-in-a-nuclear-war/148872>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 16, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-in-flight-airlines-and-manned-space-craft-in-a-nuclear-war/148872 "2003-01-16T01:07:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-in-flight-airlines-and-manned-space-craft-in-a-nuclear-war/148872/21 "2003-01-16T11:33:50Z")

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Ya know, that occured to me AFTER I posted…

You’re right. In fact, DC-3’s have more landing options than the later bigger jets becuase they’re smaller and lighter.

In any case, even if the interstate highway system had been designed that way, it would no longer be useful since the huge jumbos just wouldn’t fit in a mile of pavement.

The other thing is that up in the mountains (like Colorado), even a DC-3 might need more than a mile since increasing altitude and decreasing air density means an airplane needs a longer landing space. Not that it would surprise me if Congress didn’t know that.

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