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The wings on this Airbus flex way more than they should

Insider · 1.2M views · 2016-01-07 · 0:43

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Overview

A one-minute clip from Insider showing an Airbus airliner's wings flexing far more than most people expect during a wing load test. It is meant to reassure nervous flyers about turbulence.

On Hacker News

HN commenters link it to show how much stress airliner wings are designed to withstand, especially in turbulence and crash threads.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2018–2025

Topics

Aviation & aerospace engineeringCivil engineering & construction
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airbuswingsturbulencestructural testingaviation

What people said

mrguyorama · 2025-02 · Reference

Nah, an engine getting ripped off will not tear off the wing since this is the level of force and flex they are designed to withstand: [VIDEO] The engines are built to rip off cleanly, because when they don't, they have caused [LINK] and [LINK] which were fairly serious and catastrophic accidents at least partially caused by the engines tearing off and damaging the wing in such a serious manner as to cause a stall and crash. The wings stayed on the aircraft in both instances. Interestingly, both accidents were caused by those same sheer pins being damaged in minor and unpredicted ways. I highly doubt the wing is DESIGNED to cleanly separate. Planes are just very not rigid for something going such a high speed, and so tend to turn into confetti when faced with a harder surface, like a runway or a concrete building. Usually the only parts that survive serious crashes are the landing gear struts.

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bparsons · 2024-06 · Reference

Commercial airliners are built for extraordinary stress on the airframe. You can get a taste of it here: [VIDEO] Other people will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the last time a large commercial airliner was lost to turbulence was 1966. [LINK]

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Pyxl101 · 2018-10 · Reference

When I hit turbulence, I just try to keep in mind that airplanes are extremely robust and can handle considerably more turbulence than a typical person might imagine. For example, see how much airplane wings can bend without breaking: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Insider, played through YouTube.

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