Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 13.7
Airbus A320
with maximum take-off
weight of 75 t (Photograph
[
8
])
Table 13.2
Specifications of several relevant passenger aircraft
Parameter
Unit
A380
B747
A340-600
A320
1
Max. take-off weight
t
560
395
380
78
2
Kerosene weight
t
256
170
150
19
3
Length
m
72.30
70.60
75.30
37.57
4
Wingspan
m
79.80
64.50
63.45
34.10
5
Height of fuselage
m
8.40
7.85
5.64
3.96
6
Engines
Quantity
4
4
4
2
13.3.2 Approach Angle and Approach Speed
To determine the decisive load of a structure such as the outer containment of a
reactor building it is crucial to know at which angle and with which speed an
attacker could reach a target.
For the definition of possible and realistic flight approaches intense discussions
and studies were conducted after the attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001
(cf. e.g. [
9
]). A diverse number of aviation institutions, airline companies and
experienced pilots were involved. Furthermore, possible approach scenarios were
tested in flight simulators. A summary of the first examination results are described
in [
10
], but the basic report is classified confidential as “VS-Vertraulich” and is
therefore not freely available.
To determine the aeronautical parameters varying conditions such as altitude,
wind and visibility conditions were considered under different approach angles for
target approaches to similar objects. It is generally known that the approach angle
for a planned landing is usually approx. 3
with respect to the horizontal plane.
Under these ideal conditions it is not a great problem for a reasonably experienced
pilot to hit a target the size of a reactor building very precisely. The accuracy
decreases slowly as the pitch increases, at higher values it decreases drastically. The
probability of a hit is markedly reduced for angles greater than approx. 10
.An
important aspect with respect to the probability of a hit is that in comparison to the
almost horizontal approach with optimal maneuverability to the over 400 m tall
World Trade Center in New York, a reactor building must be hit with pinpoint
accuracy in the horizontal and vertical direction, taking into account the loss of
