More News From Nerdistan

I was watching a reality video show with Brian the other day and it showed a couple of explosions, a collision and several plane crashes. In the past few years I have come to understand a little more about all of these, especially plane crashes and why the wings sometimes appear to fall off for no obvious reason. The reason has now become obvious to me via Brian: fatigue. This is a term that is thrown around quite regularly in engineering and seems to mean that something is "tired." (Hmmm. I think I can use that around the house, too. No, I can't make dinner, I'm fatigued.) So, on the show the other day a plane wing fell off. In this case I think some well-meaning mechanic forgot to secure bolt #4, but I have heard other stories, again via Brian, of plane wings that became unattached due to what began as a tiny crack.

*really nerdy boring warning* Tiny cracks are very common in the aluminum that is used to make most commercial airplanes. If a crack is visible the mechanic simply applies epoxy glue and makes it all better. Our American regulations state that planes are only allowed to fly a certain number of hours before they must be grounded, so as to prevent these cracks and general wear becoming a problem. But, this doesn't apply in many third-world countries who buy old planes at a discount and then load as many people/goats on as possible. Brian's parents, who live in Congo, now no longer fly in Russian airplanes since the planes have a horrible habit recently of losing a wing and dropping like a rocket out of the sky (here, here, here and here).

Whew! So, you can imagine how I felt the first time I flew after we married, sat in a window seat, looked out of the window to the wing and noticed a hundred of those tiny cracks. Bit of advice: don't look for cracks or you will find them! And now, if I sit near the window or especially near the window by the wing, I keep my eyes to myself. I am glad there are smart people out there to keep us safe and happy.