Flight dynamics demonstrates the manner in which aerospace vehicles such as airplanes respond to the perturbations in the environment in which the aerospace vehicles as well as control inputs (Etkin & Reid, 1996) . In the event of adverse perturbations, aerospace vehicles experience difficulties, which may negatively influence the normal performance of an aircraft causing it to crash. However, some of the times, the environment is not to blame for the crashing of certain aircraft, but it has to do with the aircraft itself or external factors. In the event a pilot loses stability as well as control for one reason or another, adverse flight dynamics come into play, which typically have negative implications on the aerospace vehicle. The UA 232 DC-10 accident that occurred on July 19, 1989 in Sioux City, Iowa and the DHL Airbus-300 shoot-down incident represent instances where flight dynamics had been attributed to plane crashes, thus historic accidents (Galison, 2000) . This paper, therefore, aims at comparing and contrasting the two incidences, with regards to flight dynamics.
Both instances resulted from interference of hydraulic system, which resulted in loss of control. On the one hand, The UA 232 DC-10 experienced failure, which can be deemed as uncontained, of the stage 1 fan rotor disk assembly of the No. 2 engine that resulted in a series of events that rendered the flight control systems unable to operate. Interference of the No. 2 engine led to interference of the No. 1 and No. 3 hydraulic systems lines since they are both served by fragments of No. 2 engine. The DHL Airbus-300 on the other hand experienced failure as a result of its wing being struck, which led to penetration of the No. 1 fuel tank. Upon penetration of the No. 1 fuel tank, the fuel ignited resulting in destruction of a large part of the wing that was hit with missile. In addition to that, the plane lost all its hydraulics rendering the plane incontrollable (Phelps, 2007).
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Both aircrafts crashed while attempting emergency landings upon losing control that was attributed to failure of both planes’ hydraulic systems. On the one hand, when the No. 1 and No. 3 hydraulic systems lines of the UA 232 DC-10 failed, the plane had to make an emergency landing at Sioux City airport. On the other hand, when the DHL Airbus-300 lost all it had to make an emergency landing at the Baghdad airport, which was nearer since it had just taken off from there. However, both pilots lost the ability to stabilize and control, which led to the crash of both planes resulting in injuries of people in both planes.
Both planes crashed due to internal defect. However, the DHL Airbus-300 attributes the internal defects to being hit by a missile, while the UA 232 DC-10 attributes its internal defects to a series of events that did not show in the DHL Airbus-300. This is because irrespective of the design ( wide-body ) of both planes, the UA 232 DC-10, lacked alternative power sources that were required to support the flight control systems. It would have been possible for UA 232 DC-10 to be flown marginally through asymmetrical thrust from engines No. 1 and 3 even with the loss of all conventional flight control systems. Nonetheless, it was impossible for the UA 232 DC-10 to land safely (Korovin, 2011) . Based on that, the crash of the UA 232 DC-10 appears to have been more complex than that of the DHL Airbus-300 since it was not caused by a longer series of events unlike the UA 232 DC-10. However, both planes crashed as a result of loss of control, which led to the loss of both lateral and directional control since both crashed while trying to land.
References
Etkin, B., & Reid, L. D. (1996). Dynamics of flight: stability and control (Vol. 3). New York: Wiley.
Galison, P. (2000). An accident of history. In Atmospheric flight in the twentieth century (pp. 3-43). Springer Netherlands.
Korovin, E. I. (2011). Air crash investigations: The worst single plane crash in american history, the crash of american . Place of publication not identified: Lulu Com.
Phelps, M. (2007, February 1). DHL crew saves A300B4 after SAM hit on takeoff. AINonline . Retrieved November 4, 2017, from https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2007-02-01/dhl-crew-saves-a300b4-after-sam-hit-takeoff
