On April 27, 2012, a multinational team of television studios staged an airplane crash near

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

, Mexico. An unmanned

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...

, fitted with numerous cameras,

crash test dummies Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts (vocals, guitar) and his distinctive bass-baritone voice. The band members have fluctuated over the years, but its best kno ...

and other scientific instruments, was flown into the ground. The exercise was filmed for television.

Aircraft and test site

The aircraft used was a Boeing 727-200 purchased by the television production companies, registration ''XB-MNP'' (formerly N293AS). The site in Mexico was chosen because authorities in the United States would not allow the test to take place. The aircraft's original owner was

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...

. The last United-States-based owner was Broken Wing LLC of

Webster Groves, Missouri Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography Webster Groves is located at ( ...

, who then exported it and transferred it to a Mexican production company. Broken Wing is also the company that planned and executed the experiment. The aircraft had been leased to

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

's 1996 presidential election campaign by the then-owner AvAtlantic.

Flight

Several federal permits by the Mexican government were needed before the remote controlled flight and crash could be performed. In addition, the Mexican authorities stipulated that the aircraft had to be flown by humans during part of the flight, since it would be flying over a populated area. The flight was piloted by captain Jim Bob Slocum, then controlled remotely by Chip Shanle, a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

pilot who works at

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

. The airplane took off from

General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada International Airport General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada International Airport is an international airport located outside Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is the northernmost airport in Mexico. It is named after Mexican military off ...

in Mexicali, with three flight crew and three support jumpers, as well as a number of crash dummies, and with a

chase plane A chase plane is an aircraft that "chases" a "subject" aircraft, spacecraft or rocket, for the purposes of making real-time observations and taking air-to-air photographs and video of the subject vehicle during flight. Background Safety can ...

Cessna Skymaster The Cessna Skymaster is an American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a push-pull configuration. Its engines are mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extend aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, ...

following close behind. As the flight progressed towards the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, its occupants parachuted to safety via the 727's ventral

airstair An airstair is a set of steps built into an aircraft so that passengers may board and alight the aircraft. The stairs are often built into a clamshell-style door on the aircraft. Airstairs eliminate the need for passengers to use a mobile st ...

. Slocum was the last one to leave the jet, three minutes before impact. Shanle then flew the jetliner by remote control, from the chase plane. The jetliner hit the ground at , with a descent rate of . Upon impact, the Boeing 727 broke up into several sections, the main landing gear collapsing with the cockpit being torn off the fuselage. The zone of the crash had been cordoned off by security teams, as well as Mexican police and military, for the safety of the public.

Aftermath

The crash site received a full environmental cleanup and salvage operation, under the supervision of Mexican authorities.Discovery Channel Canada, ''Curiosity''
"ABOUT Curiosity: Plane Crash"
(accessed 2012-10-27) 2012_Boeing_727_Crash_Experiment

Most of the large sections of the plane that survived the crash – including the majority of the fuselage, as well as the detached cockpit and nose section – were moved to a field next to Federal Highway 5 south of Mexicali at , and were still there in May 2022.
"Google Maps" (accessed 2020-11-24)

Study result

The conclusion for this test was that, in a case like this, passengers at the front of an aircraft would be the ones most at risk in a crash. Passengers seated closer to the airplane's wings would have suffered serious but survivable injuries such as broken ankles. The test dummies near the tail section were largely intact; so any passengers there would have likely walked away without serious injury. However, in other crashes, such as when the tail hits the ground first, as was the case with

Asiana Airlines flight 214 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight originating from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea. On the morning of July 6, 2013, the Boeing 777-200ER operating the flight stalled and crashed on f ...

, in which a

Boeing 777-200ER The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

crashed short of the runway at

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...

, the reverse might apply. The brace position was found to be protective against concussion and spinal injuries, but created additional loads on the legs that could result in fractured legs or ankles. Additionally, the aircraft's wiring and cosmetic panels were shown to have collapsed into the passenger compartment, creating debris hazards and obstacles to evacuation.

Television program

A television program about the experiment was produced by

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

(United States),

Dragonfly Film and Television Productions Dragonfly is a British television production company owned by Banijay subsidiary Endemol Shine UK. It has produced factual programmes for BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5, Discovery Channel and National Geograp ...

(United Kingdom),

Pro Sieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

(Germany), and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

(United Kingdom).David Kaminski-Morrow
"VIDEO: Boeing 727 deliberately crashed in desert for TV"
''Flight International'', April 30, 2012. (accessed 2012-10-17) The crash was the subject of a Discovery Channel television series ''Curiosity'' 2-hour episode "Plane Crash".Discovery Channel
2012-10-07
TV schedule (accessed 2012-10-17)Discovery Channel, ''Curiosity'' season 2 episode 1, "Plane Crash", airdate: 2012 October 7 The episode was aired on October 7, 2012, and narrated by

Josh Charles Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on '' Sports Night; '' Will Gardner on ''The Good Wife'', which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations; and his early wo ...

.Sorcha Pollak
"Discovery Channel Crashes a Jet Plane — on Purpose"
''Time'', October 7, 2012. (accessed 2012-10-17) The 1-hour-35-minute episode "The Plane Crash" aired on Channel 4 in Britain on October 11, 2012.Channel 4
"The Plane Crash"
(accessed 2012-10-17)Channel 4
2012-10-11
TV schedule (accessed 2012-10-17) The program garnered criticism in Britain, as it was aired less than a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...

after the Sita Air Flight 601 air crash in Nepal.Caroline Shearing
"The Plane Crash: Channel 4 defends latest publicity stunt"
''The Telegraph (London)'', 11 October 2012. (accessed 2012-10-17) The 2-hour "Plane Crash" episode of ''Curiosity'' aired on

Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by CTV Speciality Television Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media/ESPN Inc. (80%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns the remaining ...

on October 28, 2012, and on

Discovery Channel India Discovery Channel India is the Indian version of Discovery Channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery for the Indian subcontinent. It is available in eight languages including Hindi, English, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi w ...

on December 17, 2012. ProSieben planned to air the documentary special before the end of 2012 Sebastian Steinke
"Fernsehsender lassen unbemannte Boeing 727 bruchlanden"
''FlugRevue'', 3 May 2012 (accessed 2012-10-27) and the French channel

France 5 France 5 () is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowledge network). ...

broadcast it on June 23, 2013.

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Discovery Channel Crashes a Passenger Jet For a Science Documentary"
Discovery Channel (USA)
"ABOUT Curiosity: Plane Crash"
Discovery Channel Canada
"The Plane Crash"
Channel 4 (UK)
History of N293AS

"Curiosity" Plane Crash page on imdb.com
2012 in aviation Aviation safety Experiments American documentary television films Discovery Channel ProSiebenSat.1 Media Channel 4 original programming Boeing 727 Aviation in Mexico