HackerTube.dev

Boeing 777 Wing Test

mtthw0 · 2M views · 2010-07-07 · 3:17

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A short video of a Boeing 777 wing being tested to destruction, finally breaking at 154 percent of its designed limit load. The wing is flexed upward until it fails.

On Hacker News

HN links it constantly as vivid evidence of how much margin aircraft structures have and that destructive testing is real.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2013–2023

Topics

Aviation & aerospace engineeringCivil engineering & constructionMechanical & precision engineering
Search by tags
boeing 777wing teststructural engineeringstress testaviation

What people said

sjm-lbm · 2018-07 · Recommendation

Since you are posting on HN and I'm guessing you are technically minded, you might find this really interesting: [VIDEO] - it's a video from a documentary about the development of the Boeing 777. Specifically, the video shows a test where they bend/stress the 777 wings to the point where they actually snap. Spoiler alert: they snap at orders of magnitude more flex than you've ever seen. Even for very severe turbulence (like you experienced), it's very comforting for me to know (via that video evidence) that even if I haven't seen turbulence this bad, the people that made the airplane definitely thought about it.

Read the original HN comment ↗
vanderZwan · 2015-02 · Recommendation

Planes come to mind. Basically, back in the age of the slide ruler, engineers "overcompensated" in durability. This is why older planes are much heavier (so more inefficient and costly to run) but also last forever. PS: Not to crap on the structural engineering of more modern planes, don't get me wrong! Check out this video: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
mulmen · 2023-02 · Reference

The famous video is of a 777 wing. I don't believe any similar footage exists for the 747 or if the test was even performed decades before. [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by mtthw0, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources