Airliner Crash

In this photograph the B-720 is seen during the moments of initial impact. The left wing is digging into the lakebed while the aircraft continues sliding towards wing openers. Dec 1984, NASA Photo / NASA photo ECN-31803

Following its controlled impact on posts imbedded in the lakebed, the B-720 is sliding sideways and almost enveloped in the large fireball with only the aircraft's nose and right wing-tip exposed. Dec 1984. NASA Photo / NASA photo EC84-31809

Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID) 02.06.02: In a typical aircraft crash, fuel spilled from ruptured fuel tanks forms a fine mist that can be ignited by a number of sources at the crash site. In 1984 the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility (after 1994 a full-fledged Center again) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) teamed-up in a unique flight experiment called the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID), to test crash a Boeing 720 aircraft using standard fuel with an additive designed to surpress fire. The additive, FM-9, a high-molecular-weight long-chain polymer, when blended with Jet-A fuel had demonstrated the capability to inhibit ignition and flame propagation of the released fuel in simulated crash tests.

This anti-misting kerosene (AMK) cannot be introduced directly into a gas turbine engine due to several possible problems such as clogging of filters. The AMK must be restored to almost Jet-A before being introduced into the engine for burning. This restoration is called “degradation” and was accomplished on the B-720 using a device called a “degrader.” Each of the four Pratt & Whitney JT3C-7 engines had a “degrader” built and installed by General Electric (GE) to break down and return the AMK to near Jet-A quality.

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