On April 27, 2012, a team of scientists staged an airplane crash near Mexicali, Mexico. An unmanned Boeing 727-200, fitted with numerous cameras, crash-test dummies and other scientific instruments, was flown into the ground. The exercise was filmed for television.
The aircraft used was a Boeing 727-200 purchased by the television production companies, registration XB-MNP. 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. The last United-States-based owner was Broken Wing LLC of Webster Groves, Missouri, 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'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 pilot who works at American Airlines. The airplane took off from General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada International Airport in Mexicali, with the flight crew and a small group of passengers, as well as a number of crash dummies, and with a chase plane following close behind. As the flight progressed towards the Sonoran Desert of Baja California in Mexico, its occupants parachuted to safety via the 727's ventral airstair. Slocum was the last one to leave the jet, four 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 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. Most of the large sections of the plane that survived the crash were moved to a field next to Federal Highway 5 south of Mexicali at , and were still there in January 2020.
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 a Boeing 777 that crashed just short of the runway at San Francisco, 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 and/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.
