Interesting that the engines sheared off.

[trof]

I guess that's designed into Airbusses.
I'm pretty sure it was an engineering design of later Boeings, after the 707. Hey, I've been retired from aviation for almost 10 years, so you forget a lot.

Anyway...the pylon is that piece that attaches the engine to the wing.
They're constructed with a shear point.
If the engine should hit something it separates from the pylon/wing without tearing the wing off.

I guess it worked as intended.
:-)

[Warpy]

1. I've seen a photo of the plane just before it ditched

and there was no engine on that side of it.

A bird strike would make that engine very unstable, unstable enough to shake and flame out, which is what eyewitnesses saw. The shaking would be enough to shear it off.

It's why there was no fire. It's why everybody lived.

[El Supremo]

4. The engines were there >>

They are blue in color.

[trof]

5. It would take a lot more than a bird strike to shear.

How the hell engineers build something like this is way beyond my comprehension.

But it's kinda like Goldilocks's porridge.
Not too hot, not too cold...JUST RIGHT.

If the engine 'merely' has a 'catastrophic' failure, you probably don't want it to separate. You can deal with catastrophic failures. Flame out or fire.

But if you somehow take out a row of lead-in lights on an ILS approach, you'd rather the engine come off than the wing come off.
The plane can continue to fly (more or less) without an engine.
Without a wing, it can't.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. That's why the wings are still attatched...

...and the fuselage remained intact (since the wings stabilized the aircraft while it rode upon the water).

[B o d i]

3. I was wondering about that, haven't heard a good explanation yet in the MSM.

That explains a lot, thanks for posting :-)

[trof]

6. My pleasure, and welcome to DU.

:hi:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. The engines were destroyed with a series of mini nukes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x229856#230915

Mini nukes strapped to the geese, no doubt.

[trof]

8. Damn. Who knew?

Nukes hunh?
Dern.

[madinmaryland]

10. Fucking Canucks and their nucular geese!

:grr:

[undeterred]

9. They must be pretty heavy

and the plane might have sunk faster if they didn't shear off.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. The A320 has a ditching switch.

Just before ditching the pilots push a button on the overhead panel and this closes any openings on the lower part of the fuselage, like the pressurization system outflow valve. This keeps water out of the airplane long enough to make it float for a little while so people can evacuate. It's not clear yet whether the engines sheared off, but the fact that the airplane floated for awhile probably has to do with the ditching switch.