From: Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Date: Thu Feb 18 1999 - 19:08:47 MST
> ...tell you from personal experience that I give great credence to the fuel tank
> fume blast, now that I know that the wire harnesses in that area were insulated
> with kapton. Under the proper conditions kapton can be very explosive and
> flammable.
mike, i have never worried much about how a crippled plane could
descend faster than freefall in a vacuum: tail control surfaces could
issue a down command or the craft could have turned over, etc,
under full thrust. all bets are off after a plane comes apart.
but i must admit, this scenario of a bad wire causing an explosion
of fumes inside the tank i have found troubling. i would think
the vapor pressure of the kerosene would displace oxygen
sufficiently to prevent much oxygen from getting inside the tank,
even if scuffed or degraded insulation causes a spark.
the fuel pump on my truck is inside the tank, submerged in gasoline,
unless the tank is nearly empty. i would think the vapor pressure
of octane on a cool day would be lower than that of kerosene on
a warm day, yet there is never enough oxygen in a car's gas tank
to cause an explosion, even assuming a faulty fuel pump. that
kapton has problems is acknowledged, but why would a spark
inside a fuel tank cause an explosion?
what is your experience? i fly on these boeings about 40 times
a year. i would hate to hafta worry that a tank could explode
at any time. {8-[ spike
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