# What the hell hit this plane? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528 "2008-07-07T05:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/21 "2008-07-07T14:39:50Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Just a hunch. Typically the conical portion of a structure is the most resilient to denting. [/QUOTE] Yes, but typically the nosecone on a jetliner is made of very thin stuff with no structural ribbing. My vote is on the birdstrike theory. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/22 "2008-07-07T14:46:42Z")
What happened to that ballon guy? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/23 "2008-07-07T14:51:24Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] That’s the strongest part of the plane, [/QUOTE] No, it’s not strong because it doesn’t need to be. Typically the nose will be fiberglass (for the radar) or aluminum. The strongest part of an airplane is the wing/fuselage intersection. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/24 "2008-07-07T14:53:23Z")
[QUOTE=squeegee] Why do you say that? Going from the images of the ‘dent’, that part looks like aluminum skin with no bracing underneath. I’ll admit I know little about the construction of airliners. [/QUOTE] That nose cone is made out of fiberglass - not aluminum. It’s actually called a radome (radar dome). It houses the plane’s radar antenna, which is why it is fiberglass. Aluminum would mess with the reception. Personally, I would guess bird strike. But, it’d have to be a pretty good sized bird and be unlucky enough to hit dead center of the radome to dent it rather than just glancing off to the side. ETA - yeah - what he said. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/25 "2008-07-07T15:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] > [@Declan](#): > > Actually it looks like it was dented by another airplane , so this guy rear ended someone and never mentioned it. The pilot of the aircraft he hit would’ve felt and reported it though. [/QUOTE] He probably hit an unoccupied and parked airplane. He got out and looked, and upon seeing nobody was in the other vehicle he was going to just leave, but he saw some nearby witnesses, so he left a note: “Dear pilot, the people watching me _think_ I’m leaving my contact information…” ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/26 "2008-07-07T18:36:43Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] That’s the strongest part of the plane, I doubt a bird could do that kind of damage. Anyone hear anything about pterodactyl sightings? [/QUOTE] It could if the relevant forces were large enough. Perhaps the impact happened so quickly that the poor thing had no time to bleed? My guess would be a Turkey Vulture, which are pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/27 "2008-07-07T19:50:54Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Perhaps the impact happened so quickly that the poor thing had no time to bleed? [/QUOTE] Wait, so, Jesse Ventura hit the plane? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/28 "2008-07-07T20:02:59Z")
Definitely looks like a bird strike to me. Here is similar damage to a C-141. This one is more obvious since it left feathers behind. [http://www.micom.net/oops/C-141bird1.jpg](http://www.micom.net/oops/C-141bird1.jpg) This one has similar damage, but with more of the blood and guts that people seem to expect: [http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v105/124/99/37612620/n37612620\_32575860\_4935.jpg](http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v105/124/99/37612620/n37612620_32575860_4935.jpg) Same plane as above, showing what the inside of the nose cone looks like (with the dead bird hanging in it): [http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v105/124/99/37612620/n37612620\_32575863\_5622.jpg](http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v105/124/99/37612620/n37612620_32575863_5622.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/29 "2008-07-07T20:07:58Z")
Any pilots want to comment on whether the impact should have been felt in flight? As for the lack of bird remnant, what was the weather like when the plane landed? Rain could have washed off any blood and feathers. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/30 "2008-07-07T20:22:06Z")
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/31 "2008-07-07T22:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. [/QUOTE] Well, there goes _that_ pair of underwear! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/32 "2008-07-07T23:11:13Z")
Goddammit, I keep telling those guys to thaw the chickens[.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/33 "2008-07-08T02:30:39Z")
http ://oopslist.com/C-141bird1.jpg (link broken since it can’t be hotlinked) That looks like the same type of damage to me. They might find feathers once they open up the radome. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/34 "2008-07-08T03:09:16Z")
bird strike. If you’ve ever hit a grasshopper at 120 mph in a small plane you’d believe that a large bird would do that at higher speeds. It’s just rare that an airliner nails a bird head-on. A Learjet pilot was killed in Cincinnati in 1981 by a bird strike through the windscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/35 "2008-07-08T03:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly. [/QUOTE] Gordon Jump nonwithstanding, turkeys _can_ fly. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/36 "2008-07-08T03:18:14Z")
Rather than penetrating the radome as in the case of the C-141 and the other passenger plane, I think this one glanced off but consequently left a much larger dent. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/37 "2008-07-08T16:58:45Z")
According to [CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/07/06/nose.cone/index.html?iref=mpstoryview) it occurred during flight which would make it most likely a bird. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/38 "2008-07-08T17:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] Rather than penetrating the radome as in the case of the C-141 and the other passenger plane, I think this one glanced off but consequently left a much larger dent. [/QUOTE] Instead of a beak that was _commin’_, it might have hit an ass that was _goin’_. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/39 "2008-07-08T17:22:10Z")
[Bill Engvall] Santa was making one last run! [/BE] ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528/40 "2008-07-08T18:12:32Z")
I thought I heard on the news last night that it happened at 18,000 feet, so they determined that it could not be a bird? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-hit-this-plane/455528.md?page=3)