The windows weren't openable or readily breakable

Post #10,277 by ben_tilly 9/23/01 3:59:41 PM Reply	The windows weren't openable or readily breakable It was theoretically possible to break them, but your average person couldn't do it on demand. In fact there was a famous example of one lawyer who used to demonstrate this to clients. He would run full tilt into the window and it would hold. Unfortunately for him, he was in the habit of always using the same window for the demonstration, and eventually the repeated abuse caused it to give way. However despite his eventual success, it wasn't something that you could just choose to do in an emergency. The windows that you saw broken were broken by the plane, not by the people who jumped out of them. Cheers, Ben
Post #10,286 by Ashton 9/23/01 5:41:12 PM Reply	Ah, I see. I thought that some were jumping from above and below the shattered several foors, but.. transmitted shock may have broken those. OK - add small projectile launcher to parachute pack, for my presence on the top floors.. (Do we 'need' a 1000 floor replacement, just on principle?) A. Did the lawyer survive the breaking?
Post #10,290 by Andrew Grygus 9/23/01 7:23:33 PM Reply	No. How do we convince more lawyers to try this tick? [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #10,295 by ben_tilly 9/23/01 8:25:56 PM Reply	The lawyer did not survive As for why the windows broke, the building was hermetically sealed. Add one jumbo jet of plane then the pressure rises and about one jumbo jet of air will want to exit. (Less because air is compressible. Once air pressure can equalize, then more because the internal air pressure is above the outside air pressure. The need to maintain different air pressures is one of the reasons for not allowing open windows.) Do this while you have just put the structure through unusual stresses and strains (eg from the transmitted shock), and you will manage to remove a lot of windows. Additionally do not discount the effect of the ball of fire. Rapidly heating structures with components made of different substances can cause serious damage from differentials in their expansion rates. Cheers, Ben
Post #10,304 by a6l6e6x 9/23/01 10:19:06 PM Reply	Yep, on windows. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo (down to ~90 mph from 140 mph in Charleston, SC) sucked out quite a few windows from office buildings in uptown Charlotte, NC. Bernoulli wasn't kidding. Alex Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad. -- Euripides
Post #10,305 by kmself 9/23/01 10:28:25 PM Reply	Don't discount the force of an airplane either While the shock of impact itself wasn't sufficient to destroy the tower, the shock itself was transmitted throughout. In the immediate vicinity of the impacts, windows not destroyed by primary blast effects (projectiles, overpressure, fire) were likely knocked loose or ejected as the building curtain itself flexed. As the structure continued to respond to the aftereffects of the impacts, it likly continued to deform. One survivor's story relates the noises the tower he was in made as his party descended the stairs. Similarly, ships are known to make rending noises as they sink due to torpedoes, ice, or other damage. The lawyer was with a Toronto firm, was in the habit of demonstrating building safety to visiting law students, and [link\|http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-01.html\|was nominated for a Darwin award]. `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`

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