02-18-2025, 12:23 PM
(02-18-2025, 11:57 AM)EXETER Wrote: Yes, it's obvious from the videos that are now showing up online that the right wing contacted the ground and broke off basically at the moment of touchdown, creating a small fireball from the fuel in the wing tanks. Since the aircraft was still traveling forward at landing speed, the left wing was still generating lift and the right wing was gone, the asymmetrical lift caused the fuselage to roll to the right all the way onto its back. Fortunately, the forward speed of the aircraft carried the fuselage away from the fireball, otherwise it could have been much worse. As you point out, if the aircraft was landing on runway 23 but the wind was coming from 270 degrees, there would have been a large crosswind component blowing the aircraft to the left that the pilot would have been compensating for--probably by slipping to a landing with the right wing low and cross controlling with opposite rudder. If the pilot is too slow in leveling the wings and neutralizing the rudder at the moment of touchdown, this kind of thing can happen. My money is on that explanation, at the moment.
If I had to guess right now, I’d say the snow caused them to misjudge their height above the runway, and they tried to force it down, and didn’t correct in time. The CRJ had to drop the wing for crosswinds, which can lead to trouble.
The airframe construction is a big part of what saved lives. The fuselage sits on the wings instead of them running through the fuselage.
