Would a DC-10 landing on a highway crack the cement?

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intotherain · Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:08 pm

Let's say that it's an aged highway, perhaps a few years, and a fully loaded DC-10 did an emergency landing on it. Would the plane crack the highway cement?

A DC-10 weighs almost 600,000 pounds.

#2 Unread post by **Skier** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:14 pm

If it's a hard emergency landing, I don't see why not. Airport runways can be at least four feet thick. Your average superslab isn't that beefy.

jonnythan · #3 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:15 am

I'd imagine it depends entirely on the particular slab of concrete. Many interstates are quite thick, and planes weight a lot but not *that* much.

scan · #4 Unread post by **scan** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:44 am

intotherain wrote:Let's say that it's an aged highway, perhaps a few years, and a fully loaded Boeing 737-800 did an emergency landing on it. Would the plane crack the highway cement?

Big plans this weekend?

Johnj · #5 Unread post by **Johnj** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:50 am

Max takeoff weight for a 737-800 is like 175,000 lbs, distributed across 3 sets of landing gear so that's 58,333 lbs each. Each landing gear set has 4 giant tires so that's 14,583 lbs per tire. Big trucks can hit 40,000 lbs or more so I think the roadway would handle it. I also think the main gear sets are set wider that the roadway

Please note: all math done on calculator:weight distribution wouldn't be so evenly divided among the landing gear sets:

Mistercory · Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:51 am

Why do you care?

Nibblet99 · #7 Unread post by **Nibblet99** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:34 am

Soo safe to say no-one plans to go near any aged highways for a while now?

Depends really, unless the plane has no wings, you aren't going to get its full weight until it's stationary, which would suggest that it probably wouldn't, or any problems would be minor. Planes have a lot of tyre surface area, as they run a low PSI, and have plenty of wide wheels

Despite their size, they still have to be reasonably light weight

Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:42 am

It would also depend on the material under the road. In some areas the roads are built on rock bed, in others it's over soft clay, sand/rock mix etc. So sometimes with the weather being really cold the clay contracts and pulls away from the road in spots. That makes a weak area where the concrete could crack.

The real question is if an airplane is on a runway that works like a conveyor belt where that belt perfectly matches the airplanes forward speed but in the opposite direction, does the plane take off?

Yeah- I went there. SOAP BOX RULES

#9 Unread post by **fireguzzi** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:50 am

storysunfolding wrote:
The real question is if an airplane is on a runway that works like a conveyor belt where that belt perfectly matches the airplanes forward speed but in the opposite direction, does the plane take off?

Is it an African Boeing or a European Boeing?

Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:55 am

I don't kno- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Would a DC-10 landing on a highway crack the cement?

Would a DC-10 landing on a highway crack the cement?

Re: Would a Boeing 737 landing on a highway crack the cement