Warfare in News

Posted on Thursday 4th October

A dramatic new Channel 4 documentary called The Plane Crash will air on Thursday, 11 October at 9pm.

The Plane Crash follows an international team of experts, scientists and elite pilots as they deliberately crash land a 170-seat Boeing 727 passenger jet, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study the mechanics of a plane crash in real time.

The programme hopes to answer key questions such as whether sitting at the front or rear of the aircraft, or wearing a seat belt, can be the difference between life and death.

The pilot and the rest of the crew will parachute from the passenger jet just minutes before impact from a chase plane piloted by former US Navy pilot and author of Project Seven Alpha, Leland 'Chip' Shanle. The aircraft will then crash land in an uninhabited area of Mexican desert.

Cameras inside the aircraft, on the ground, in chase planes and on the pilot's helmet will record the crash. Research equipment such as crash test dummies will be used to measure G forces and other effects on passengers.

Lieutenant Commander Leland Shanle retired from the US Navy having flown as a Tail Hook Aviator and test pilot, and is currently a pilot with American Airlines and a full member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. His book Project Seven Alpha - American Airlines in Burma 1942 is based on the true experiences of those who were involved and is a fitting tribute to the bravery and inventiveness of a band of men who answered their country's desperate call at the outset of the war against Japan in Asia.

Further Reading

Project Seven Alpha

Only £19.99

Project Seven Alpha

(Hardback - 256 pages)
by Leland Shanle


Of further interest...

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