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What would have actually killed the passengers on board AA5342?
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:45 pm
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:45 pm
Was it the collision with the Blackhawk? Or was it the broken off fuselage slamming into the Potomac River?
There’s been reports that first responders found household items covered in jet fuel. If you watch the video, a huge fireball erupted upon impact. This more than likely meant that the passengers would have all been burned alive before they hit the water. I highly doubt anyone would have died from drowning.
There’s been reports that first responders found household items covered in jet fuel. If you watch the video, a huge fireball erupted upon impact. This more than likely meant that the passengers would have all been burned alive before they hit the water. I highly doubt anyone would have died from drowning.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:47 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Hopefully they were all immediately knocked unconscious
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:47 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Could be anything really...
1.) Blackhawk Rotor
2.) Explosion
3.) Fire
4.) Impact
5.) Drown
1.) Blackhawk Rotor
2.) Explosion
3.) Fire
4.) Impact
5.) Drown
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:48 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
I doubt there was a single cause for all of them. Some probably died on impact with the chopper, some on impact with the water/ground, some from burning, some from drowning, and some from hypothermia.
This post was edited on 2/1/25 at 12:49 pm
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:51 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
I would imagine most died from the impact…either with the helicopter or with the water. Certainly a 200 mph impact.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:54 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
They impacted the helicopter at ~160mph. I’d like to think they were all unconscious/deceased before they experienced anything else.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:56 pm to Gravitiger
frick that sounds like miserable experience. I would hope to be unalived immediately rather than ride a segmented airplane into shallow water at 150 mph.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 12:56 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
A lot of them would have died when the chopper hit, it wasn't a huge plane.
The fall to the ground would take about 5 seconds and they'd hit the water going at least 109 mph. That probably killed most of the remainders. Maybe a handful survived both of those and then unfortunately drowning.
The fall to the ground would take about 5 seconds and they'd hit the water going at least 109 mph. That probably killed most of the remainders. Maybe a handful survived both of those and then unfortunately drowning.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:01 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
I get sick just thinking of it
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:03 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/13/25 at 1:39 am
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:04 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
The impact probably didn’t at first. I would imagine it was the fireball that comes shortly after
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:05 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Anyone not dying of blunt force trauma from the impact with the helicopter (or the accompanied explosion) almost certainly died of blunt force trauma a couple seconds later when the plane hit the river.
Imagine being in a car, with just a lap belt on, and undergoing a t-bone at 200-300 mph resulting in a rollover until your car hit a wall at still over 100 mph.. Anyone surviving that, and then drowning, would have been so injured that they would not have had awareness during that process.
Definitively, no one died of hypothermia.
Imagine being in a car, with just a lap belt on, and undergoing a t-bone at 200-300 mph resulting in a rollover until your car hit a wall at still over 100 mph.. Anyone surviving that, and then drowning, would have been so injured that they would not have had awareness during that process.
Definitively, no one died of hypothermia.
This post was edited on 2/1/25 at 1:07 pm
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:08 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Can you imagine the pilots?
You were right there. And then suddenly you feel and hear a crash and looking down at your death.
You were right there. And then suddenly you feel and hear a crash and looking down at your death.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:10 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Probably the initial impact w/the BH then the impact with the water killed the rest IMO
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:12 pm to htran90
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/13/25 at 1:38 am
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:14 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
On the plane I would say people weren’t killed or knocked out on initial impact unless they were actually hit by something. The initial impact force wouldn’t knock them out because forward momentum was not stopped. (Forward momentum stopping is the killer, think Dale Earnhardt). Fire wouldn’t be enough time to kill someone as it took less than 5 seconds for the plane to hit the ground.
Hitting the ground is what killed most I would guess.
Hitting the ground is what killed most I would guess.
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:16 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
Not trying to be snarky, but lots of people today don't understanding physics and the effect of blunt force trauma on the average human body, I blame people believing movie physics is real life for some of this. In cars seatbelts and airbags are amazing and save lives, but in the end velocity at impact matters much more. The olds of surviving a head on collision at 30 mph are actually pretty high, the odds of surviving a head on collision at 45 mph drop exponentially, and its really, really hard to survive a head on collision at 60 mph even with a seat belt and airbags.
This was a collision at almost 200 mph, and probably hitting the water at 100 mph, likely everyone was dead after they hit the water.
This was a collision at almost 200 mph, and probably hitting the water at 100 mph, likely everyone was dead after they hit the water.
This post was edited on 2/1/25 at 1:18 pm
Posted on 2/1/25 at 1:21 pm to BuckeyeWarrior
I think too depth into this as well, hoping they all died on impact and didn’t suffer. Can’t imagine not having a chance to try to survive.
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