What is a "High Energy Object"?

[napi21]

Post from CNN:

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 broke apart in the air after being hit by a burst of "high-energy objects," a preliminary report by Dutch aviation investigators said Tuesday.

The Boeing 777 "broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside," a press release accompanying the report said.

"There are no indications that the MH17 crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew," the statement said.

Flight 17 came down in eastern Ukraine on July 17 in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Of the 298 people killed, around two-thirds were Dutch.


I thought I knew (burst from auto machine gun?) but if that is the case, why didn't they just say that? I tried Google, but all I find is hundreds of listings of the same announcement about the Malaysia plane.

[sharp_stick]

1. Anti aircraft missiles like the Buk

are designed to explode near the target (the airliner) and this sends thousands of small pieces of shrapnel at high speed through the plane tearing it apart in flight.

[jeff47]

2. Something that has been accelerated to a high speed

In this case, most likely we're talking about shrapnel from a proximity warhead.

The warhead explodes, and the shrapnel are accelerated to a high speed. Usually faster than a machine gun bullet.

[napi21]

6. OK. I thought of that too, but why is the notice so vague?

I would think if it was shot down, they would have said that. Next I wonder who has the capability of firing such a thing in that area of the world?

[jeff47]

8. Because they can't prove where the high-energy projectiles came from.

In theory, the plane could have been hit by a fragmenting meteor.

So they keep it vague for the initial report stage, while they gather evidence to show where the fragments actually came from.

[hack89]

9. The Ukrainian rebels have surface to air missile systems. nt

[stevenleser]

11. It's not vague. That is the technical term. nt

[unblock]

3. "things. it was hit with things big and/or fast enough to do that kind of damage."

"are you not infotained?"

[stevenleser]

4. Posters 1 and 2 beat me to it. nt

[randome]

5. An object. With energy.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]

[hack89]

7. Fragments from a missile warhead would be high energy objects. nt

[tammywammy]

13. +1

Some missiles explode before impact in order to increase probability of a successful intercept.

[Xithras]

10. Solid masses traveling at high rates of speed.

In this case, most likely shrapnel from a missile detonation. Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, anti-aircraft missiles don't actually explode in massive fireballs causing nearby aircraft to simply burst into flames. Real anti-aircraft missiles are like giant grenades. They contain a high energy explosive charge wrapped in material that will fragment outward when it detonates. Imagine thousands of tungsten or DU metal fragments expanding outward faster than the speed of sound, slamming into an aircraft built out of aluminum. Those fragments will sever everything from fuel and hydraulic lines, to fuel tanks and pilot bodies. It's like being hit by a gigantic shotgun.

[NightWatcher]

12. My guess was going to be...My toddler at 6am

But I didn't think a bunch of toddlers would down an airliner....unless they ran out of Goldfish crackers.