Passenger planes at risk from North Korean missile tests

[Berlin]

Oh dear- CNN just reported that last week's missile test was flying within miles of the flight path that an Air France passenger jet had just completed:

North Korean missile tests could pose a risk to passenger planes - CNN.com

Pretty scary stuff- anyone remember that Russian rocket shooting down the MH plane a while back? :shock:

 

[glasszon]

It needs to be put in prospective though, North Korea is not launching guided missiles at Airplanes, to actually hit a plane by chance in a 3 dimensional space is very small. I imagine the chance of an Airplane accident any other way is a lot bigger than getting hit by a North Korean missile.

 

[juddles]

The missile went at almost 4000 kilometres altitude? Great article.

 

[Berlin]

The missile went at almost 4000 kilometres altitude? Great article.

Yes- and? Don't quite understand what you're saying...

 

[mannej]

Yes- and? Don't quite understand what you're saying...

4000km of altitude is a long way up...

I.e they've mentioned the wrong unit of measurement

 

[Berlin]

I imagine the chance of an Airplane accident any other way is a lot bigger than getting hit by a North Korean missile.

Yep. Would have probably said the same about a Russian BUK hitting a passenger airplane.

 

[Guvner]

At 4000 km, I'd be more worried about losing Satellite TV signal than an Air France plane.

 

[Happy Trails]

The missile went at almost 4000 kilometres altitude? Great article.

4000km of altitude is a long way up...

I.e they've mentioned the wrong unit of measurement

So how high did it go?

 

[mannej]

So how high did it go?

Change KM to M and there is your answer I would think.

 

[Happy Trails]

Change KM to M and there is your answer I would think.

Metres or miles?
3700 metres seems a bit low for a ballistic missile.

 

[harvyk]

Change KM to M and there is your answer I would think.

But 4000M (aka 4KM) is well short of the typical altitude an airliner flies at, however it is certainly more believable altitude for a NK missile.
This is not to say that the DRPK is not an extreme risk to the rest of the world, but the article has heaps of very scary words including it's title, with obvious factual errors (eg the altitude), conjecture rather than facts, and many "what if" scenario's which for me puts it into the rubbish article list.

 

[coriander]

Yep. Would have probably said the same about a Russian BUK hitting a passenger airplane.

Oh, come on, an ICBM is nothing like a BUK. The BUK is a specifically designed surface-to-air missile that is guided onto its target by ground radarand crew and is designed to explode close to the aircraft showering it with shrapnel that kills crew and destroys the plane. An ICBM is a surface-to-surface missile that tracks to a ground target, not a moving aerial target. A plane would have to be directly over an ICBM to be hit by it and even then it would be a chance in a million. OTOH, a BUK has a claimed accuracy of about 95% on aircraft.

 

[mannej]

Shows you how much i know on the topic, I guess juddles and I are in the same boat...

 

[BacchusMarsh]

Change KM to M and there is your answer I would think.

That really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[BacchusMarsh]

obvious factual errors (eg the altitude)

Please, do tell.

 

[Himeno]

Please, do tell.

4000km is well past low earth orbit. The ISS orbits at 400km.

 

[Berlin]

Oh my science, what have I done! I thought I just post an interesting article and now we have discussions about technical details going on that are way beyond me

 

[BacchusMarsh]

4000km is well past low earth orbit. The ISS orbits at 400km.

So are you claiming that for some reason an ICBM cannot have an apogee beyond the ISS orbit?

The problem on this thread is not with the CNN article.

 

[Berlin]

The problem on this thread is not with the CNN article.

Oh- it's not?
Now I'm even more confused...

 

[Happy Trails]

Oh- it's not?
Now I'm even more confused...

I'm not a rocket scientist (no surprises there), but it seems some posters, for reasons unknown, are skeptical of the reported 3,700km altitude.