Someone has stolen an empty airplane from Seattle Airport and crashed it down after performing some loopings. I am wondering how this was possible.
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$\begingroup$ where does in that article say that the aircraft performed "loopings"? $\endgroup$ – Federico♦ Oct 13 '18 at 7:20
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2$\begingroup$ Are you asking how the loops were done or the aircraft was stolen? The title suggests the former but I feel you actually want to know the latter. $\endgroup$ – Notts90 Oct 13 '18 at 9:40
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$\begingroup$ Related: Can large airliners do aerobatics such as loops? $\endgroup$ – ymb1 Oct 13 '18 at 13:16
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Most aircraft are capable of basic positve G aerobatics, provided you have a skilled pilot in the cockpit who knows what they’re doing. Similar maneuvers have been performed by test pilots during demonstrations of large aircraft. In all instances where it has been done, it has not been sanctioned by the company. An unloaded commercial aircraft like that is going to have a pretty good thrust to weight ratio, which is going to help for doing vertical maneuvers like loops.
While precision aerobatics require a good deal of airmanship, the basics are pretty simple. I’m not surprised that a mechanic, albeit a suicidal one, with no pilot experience was able to do a basic loop - and a terrible one at that.
answered Oct 13 '18 at 13:30
