How To Reclaim a Plane

Recycling thousands of parts of a decommissioned jetliner is a massive undertaking, but financially worth the effort.

Break it Down: Plane :
THURS MAY 1 9P et/pt : http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/?source=4003

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News & Politics

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• Break
• it
• Down
• Plane
• jetliner
• recycle
• reclaim
• plane
• national geographic

[AmericaOwnz]

glad to see they recycle 98% of the aircraft.

[mitchleritch]

what the hell is depleted uranium doing on that plane o.0

[redflyspy]

Fascinating documentary, would love to visit that yard

[johnsoncm65]

I didn't intend for my comments to be taken as condescending. I'm just trying to be factual. Sometimes it comes across wrong, but it's not my intent.

[gunchibaiyya]

Ok, never mind. I should be more tolerant. I should look at your intentions, not your words. You words were condescending, but your intention was good. So I apologize for my quick irritation. I am sorry.

[johnsoncm65]

Yes, and fatigue life of aircraft skins and structural members isn't theory, it's fact. In particular, it applies to ALL aircraft that have pressurized cabins. The USAF C-141s were retired fairly recently because their airframes had reached their safe fatigue life limits. They had simply been used up, though they were well maintained and safe to the last day they flew. To fly them longer would have risked disaster. And, yes, the aluminum is melted down and recycled completely.

[gunchibaiyya]

OK, the fatigue theory makes sense. Thanks. So you are claiming that the "recycling" of aluminium is actually just remelting and remolding?

[johnsoncm65]

Because while the aluminum structure of the plane is fully recyclable, as it sits it has been through tens of thousands of pressurization cycles, and the metal is fatigued.  Keep flying it much longer and it would literally pop at high altitude, eventually. It's WORN OUT.

Google "Aloha Airlines flight 243" and you will understand why airplanes have a LIMITED service life. You don't want the roof to pop off after too many cycles!

[1CaptainAustralia1]

It's a dense, heavy metal that's used as a counterweight to trim the aircraft. It's no more radioactive than the natural radiation that people are exposed to every day.

[42317]

And what is depleted uranium doing in a passenger plane???

[gunchibaiyya]

If 98% of the plane is anyway going to be reused, why tear it down at all?? Just change the 2% which is unusable.