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unusual facts about metal fatigue



IAS Cargo Airlines

The aforesaid aircraft crashed on 14 May 1977 during the final approach to Lusaka Airport at the end of a non-scheduled all-cargo flight from London Heathrow via Athens and Nairobi when its right-hand horizontal stabiliser separated as a result of metal fatigue, causing a loss of pitch control and killing all six occupants.

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3

204 crashed on Salisbury Plain on 11 March 1914 when its rudder failed, possibly due to metal fatigue, killing its crew of two.

Stress concentration

Classic cases of metal failures due to stress concentrations include metal fatigue at the corners of the windows of the De Havilland Comet aircraft and brittle fractures at the corners of hatches in Liberty ships in cold and stressful conditions in winter storms in the Atlantic Ocean.


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