AgustaWestland AW139 shed its tailboom in Doha

[bonusboy]

Well i really don't know what to say......scuba tanks went to compostes, paint ball gun air tanks went to compostes i can continue! must just be because its cool! I've actually had the chance to explode a scuba tank which is very easy and there isn't as much stretch as you'd expect before its all over. the new carbon fiber tanks actually make popping sounds just before not exactly the best warning! The problem with composite in aviation is poor understanding. I think its safe to say that most of us are going to buy composte golf clubs or hockey sticks because we know they are better, but we have to understand that you can't just take something already designed outta aluminun or steel and just make it the same but out of composites because thats where the problems arise. The perfect example is the the A300 vertical stab. Anyone "now" can see how stupid of a design this was this wasn't because compostes are weak by any means, it was a design problem and installation problem. If your gonna put a row of bolts on a composte structure then my opinion is just stick to aluminum.

[Schimunga]

To Bullet Remington--Good thing Eurocopter wasn't listening to you back in 1974 when the first Astar took flight with its composite rotor head and blades. But then that was more then 30 years ago, before you got into this business. Apparently its is such a good system that they are still using it today as they will be using it tomorrow and probably long into the future.

What caused that composite vertical stab that killed over 120 people to fail? What caused those panels to come off the military jets? Was the findings on to those incidents based solely on the composite failing? Is there somewhere to read the report?

[Nedaero]

Did someone ever heard from Continuous Composite Health Monitoring (CCHM)
It's using a brand new technology and will be launched soon

[smaj100]

I know this pilot personally, and she had no indications prior to the separation event that something was wrong. There was no other aircraft near this one as it was ground taxing for takeoff. I agree i'm not a fan of composites at all.

AH64D
Instructor Pilot