↓ Skip to main content
Heltaher
Heltaher

Elba Crash (G-ALYP)

Cracked Sky: The Price of the Jet Age

·211 words·1 min
Systems and Innovation De Havilland Comet 1 Metal Fatigue Pressurization Cycles Stress Concentration Square Windows ADF Windows Calcutta Crash (G-ALYV) Elba Crash (G-ALYP) Naples Crash (G-ALYY) Water Tank Testing (Farnborough) G-ALYU Test Failure Prototype G-ALVG Cold-Working Proof Testing (2P) Safe-Life Design Philosophy Fail-Safe Design Damage Tolerance BCAR D3-7 Institutional Denial Weather Attribution Fallacy Stress Raisers Aluminum Alloy DTD 546 Catastrophic Failure Fracture Face Analysis Redundant Load Paths Rip-Stop Design Aviation Safety Regulation Systems Thinking Disaster Analysis Technological History Design and Innovation
A three-part investigation into the de Havilland Comet 1, the world's first jet airliner, and the scientific detective work that uncovered the hidden physics of pressurized flight.

Cracked Sky – Part 4: Photo Gallery of the Comet Disaster

·7 words·1 min
Systems and Innovation De Havilland Comet 1 Metal Fatigue Pressurization Cycles Stress Concentration Square Windows ADF Windows Calcutta Crash (G-ALYV) Elba Crash (G-ALYP) Naples Crash (G-ALYY) Water Tank Testing (Farnborough) G-ALYU Test Failure Prototype G-ALVG Cold-Working Proof Testing (2P) Safe-Life Design Philosophy Fail-Safe Design Damage Tolerance BCAR D3-7 Institutional Denial Weather Attribution Fallacy Stress Raisers Aluminum Alloy DTD 546 Catastrophic Failure Fracture Face Analysis Redundant Load Paths Rip-Stop Design Aviation Safety Regulation Systems Thinking Disaster Analysis Technological History Design and Innovation
A photo gallery of the Comet disaster.

Cracked Sky – Part 3: The Illusion of Strength: The Flawed Tests That Hid the Truth

·1678 words·8 mins
Systems and Innovation De Havilland Comet 1 Metal Fatigue Pressurization Cycles Stress Concentration Square Windows ADF Windows Calcutta Crash (G-ALYV) Elba Crash (G-ALYP) Naples Crash (G-ALYY) Water Tank Testing (Farnborough) G-ALYU Test Failure Prototype G-ALVG Cold-Working Proof Testing (2P) Safe-Life Design Philosophy Fail-Safe Design Damage Tolerance BCAR D3-7 Institutional Denial Weather Attribution Fallacy Stress Raisers Aluminum Alloy DTD 546 Catastrophic Failure Fracture Face Analysis Redundant Load Paths Rip-Stop Design Aviation Safety Regulation Systems Thinking Disaster Analysis Technological History Design and Innovation
An investigation into the flawed testing protocols that masked the Comet’s vulnerability and how a single prototype’s survival doomed the production fleet.

Cracked Sky – Part 2: Cornered: When Geometry Became a Weapon

·1641 words·8 mins
Systems and Innovation De Havilland Comet 1 Metal Fatigue Pressurization Cycles Stress Concentration Square Windows ADF Windows Calcutta Crash (G-ALYV) Elba Crash (G-ALYP) Naples Crash (G-ALYY) Water Tank Testing (Farnborough) G-ALYU Test Failure Prototype G-ALVG Cold-Working Proof Testing (2P) Safe-Life Design Philosophy Fail-Safe Design Damage Tolerance BCAR D3-7 Institutional Denial Weather Attribution Fallacy Stress Raisers Aluminum Alloy DTD 546 Catastrophic Failure Fracture Face Analysis Redundant Load Paths Rip-Stop Design Aviation Safety Regulation Systems Thinking Disaster Analysis Technological History Design and Innovation
A technical deep dive into the 1954 water tank experiments and how the squarish windows of the Comet turned air pressure into a structural saw.

Cracked Sky – Part 1: Silent Skies: The Sudden Fall of the Comet

·2062 words·10 mins
Systems and Innovation De Havilland Comet 1 Metal Fatigue Pressurization Cycles Stress Concentration Square Windows ADF Windows Calcutta Crash (G-ALYV) Elba Crash (G-ALYP) Naples Crash (G-ALYY) Water Tank Testing (Farnborough) G-ALYU Test Failure Prototype G-ALVG Cold-Working Proof Testing (2P) Safe-Life Design Philosophy Fail-Safe Design Damage Tolerance BCAR D3-7 Institutional Denial Weather Attribution Fallacy Stress Raisers Aluminum Alloy DTD 546 Catastrophic Failure Fracture Face Analysis Redundant Load Paths Rip-Stop Design Aviation Safety Regulation Systems Thinking Disaster Analysis Technological History Design and Innovation
An analysis of the three catastrophic break-ups in Calcutta, Elba, and Naples, and the institutional tendency to blame the weather when the machine is failing.