Hancock?
[QUOTE=samm]
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?
[/QUOTE]
Birds can fly that high. There’s a species of goose that migrates over Mount Everest at more than 26,000 feet.
[QUOTE=beowulff]
What happened to that ballon guy?
[/QUOTE]
The tragic outcome is being discussed here.
Tonight’s news said it was caused by some sort of structural defect - it collapsed by itself. Which, to me, is even weirder than a bird strike at 18k feet.
Not really - some of the outer skin of an airplane is for streamlining purposes and not structural support. Such portions are not particularly strong - there is no need, and additional strength would only mean additional weight which is something you want to avoid in an aircraft. A nose cone does need to be strong enough to withstand the air pressure generated by forward travel, but that’s about it. In such a case, a structural defect, or damage that isn’t immediately apparent/visible, may result in the collapse of such a non-structural part, and it really shouldn’t impact safety, just cosmetics and, to a minor degree, efficiency of flight.