Beech Aircraft Plant explodes

Wow, hope no one was hurt. It says they were closed for the holidays.
 
Two threads on this subject were merged.
 
luvflyin said:
is that the one took out the Comanche plant?
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Took out all of Piper's production of every model being built at its original Lock Haven, Pennsylvania manufacturing plant (the Cherokees were always built in Vero Beach). Production of the Aztec, Navajo and Cheyenne was moved to Florida. The Comanche production never resumed.

Prayers for the injured, and hopes for rapid recoveries and home to families.
 
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Here's hoping the injured fully recover! - I too wonder about Bonanza production if this was its facility. -seems like a good way to convert or retract.

-...nah... too early. - still hoping for recovery and comfort to those injured.
 
Pilawt said:
Prayers for the injured.

I hope this won’t be the Bonanza’s “Hurricane Agnes” ...
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Given the small numbers, I'd almost think that Beechcraft would jump at the opportunity. But it does appear that, among other things, composite work and prototype work was done in the that plane, possibly delaying the new Cessna utility twin.
 
Looks pretty serious and a lot of damage:

Beechcraft Plant 3 -1 - 27 12 19.jpg

Beechcraft Plant 3 - 27 12 19.jpg
 
How does a Nitrogen tank explode? Rupture maybe, but I doubt it would cause that much damage. Shoddy reporting?
 
Pilawt said:
Prayers for the injured.

I hope this won’t be the Bonanza’s “Hurricane Agnes” ...
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I was thinking the same thing. I can't imagine why they'd bother to retool if there is actual damage to the tooling needed. the real concern for me is not that they'd stop new production (honestly, who cares?) but that they'd exit new airframe production and close the parts business at the same time. that's the real threat to the fleet. prayers for those injured.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
How does a Nitrogen tank explode? Rupture maybe, but I doubt it would cause that much damage. Shoddy reporting?
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In another report, a liquid nitrogen line burst. If any sort of liquid is heated in advertently, you can have a BLEVE, and the amount of energy released can be enormous. A water heater can destroy your house.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
How does a Nitrogen tank explode? Rupture maybe, but I doubt it would cause that much damage. Shoddy reporting?
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I’m wondering the same thing. Big violent rupture maybe but not technically an explosion.
 
Rushie said:
I’m wondering the same thing. Big violent rupture maybe but not technically an explosion.
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I saw a video just surfaced. It was not so much as a fireball as a large pressure release that ripped the building open.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
How does a Nitrogen tank explode? Rupture maybe, but I doubt it would cause that much damage. Shoddy reporting?
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Regardless of what caused it, it looks pretty violent.
 
Rushie said:
I’m wondering the same thing. Big violent rupture maybe but not technically an explosion.
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I'm gonna go with 'explosion' by this definition: the rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner. Stuff was flying, and with some pretty good speed. Look at the damage to the cars in the parking lot. We had an oil mist explosion at GE Aviation; it pushed the side of the building off. Nobody was injured, and it was much less violent than the Beech plant.
 
LN2 expansion rate is about 700:1 at about 68 degrees F. A 3" line carries about 1 gallon per 3' of piping.
 
Nitrogen boils at minus 273 degrees Celsius.

In the liquid state, it is either at that temperature or below, or enormous pressure. It is usually kept at a very low temperature by continuously refrigerating it. If the cooling system failed, the pressure in the 3 inch line would greatly exceed the expected pressure, rupture and would blast out large quantities of the liquid, which would flash to vapor, creating the extreme increase of gas enclosed by the building, and blow off the walls violently.

Not an explosion of the chemical reaction kind, but the blast and violence would be similar, and the results much the same. The flying debris damage should have been mostly outside the building. The building itself expanded like a balloon, then ruptured, releasing the pressure, and propelling the pieces that came loose.

The real difference is that the temperatures that result are opposite, the liquid becoming gas absorbs a huge amount of energy, and the air as well as all the structure would become freezing cold. The injuries will include freeze burns, which can be very serious, especially if any of the liquid reached someones skin.

I certainly hope that no one had the liquid sprayed on them when the 3 inch pipe ruptured.
 
What does Beechcraft need that much liquid nitrogen for?
 
GRG55 said:
Took out all of Piper's production of every model being built at its original Lock Haven, Pennsylvania manufacturing plant (the Cherokees were always built in Vero Beach). Production of the Aztec, Navajo and Cheyenne was moved to Florida. The Comanche production never resumed.
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It's confusing. According to Piper Aircraft - The Development and History of Piper Designs by Roger Peperell, Aztecs and Pawnees continued to be built at Lock Haven after the 1972 flood through 1981, and Super Cubs through 1983. The first airplane built at Lock Haven after the flood was an Aztec in August 1972. Production of piston Navajos was moved to Lakeland in 1974, but PA-31T Cheyenne production remained at Lock Haven until 1985 (PA-42s were all built in Florida). The PA-36 Pawnee Brave was built at Vero in 1973-74, but then moved to Lock Haven through 1983. All production Tomahawks (1978-82) came from Lock Haven.

No new production Comanches or Twin Comanches were built after the 1972 flood. But Piper Lock Haven continued development of the PA-40 Arapaho -- an updated Twin Comanche -- through certification in 1974, with intent to introduce it for the 1975 model year. Then the company decided to go forward exclusively with the Florida-built PA-28/32/34/44 family, and the PA-40, and a proposed similar update of the single-engine Comanche, were abandoned.

Hurricane Agnes was not the only time the Piper factory was damaged in that flood-prone location. There were other damaging floods in 1946 and 1950, and flood scares in 1961, 1964, 1975 and 1977.
 
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We keep several thousand gallons of LN2 onsite at our plant for a number of processes that require a pure or near pure nitrogen atmosphere to be run. LN2 is way cheaper for the volume needed over getting tens of thousands of 330 cf gaseous nitrogen tanks.
 
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