Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 September 27

= September 27 =

Was there any way the passengers and crew on United 93 could've survived the crash?
Obviously this is a difficult question to answer, since none of them did survive in the end. But seeing as United 93 was the only plane that was not crashed head-on into a building, was there any chance of survival for the people on-board even with it being nosedived into the ground upside-down at over 500 mph, or is that kind of impact pretty much a guaranteed death sentence? Hmm1994 (talk) 06:47, 27 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Link: United Airlines Flight 93.
 * Pretty much guaranteed. Crashes at much lower speeds than that are typically deadly unless the plane attempts some sort of proper landing. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:19, 27 September 2022 (UTC)
 * No. An uncontrolled vertical crash is not survivable under any reasonable circumstances, even at lower speeds and altitudes. See United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427.  Acroterion   (talk)   12:24, 27 September 2022 (UTC)
 * One exception I can think of is a fighter pilot with a parachute and an ejector seat. The average commercial aircraft lacks those things. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:40, 30 September 2022 (UTC)