Terrorists trained in flight simulators

To fly an aeroplane it’s absolutely necessary to be trained, says Dr. Bob Mulder, an expert who is often consulted by the media. The professor of control and simulation at Aerospace Engineering continues: ”If you want to take over control, you have to know your way around in the cockpit. For instance, you must know how to switch off the automatic pilot.”

As it’s likely terrorists did take over control, he only has one explanation: ”They have trained themselves with flight simulators.” Appliances like the Delft simulator, Simona. ”Dozens of simulators exist throughout the whole world. They are owned by airline companies, but also by independent training centres, where you can hire simulators. Everybody can do that.”

According to Mulder, the possibility of an attack like the one in New York never occurred to policy makers. ”They always assumed: terrorists don’t take over the controls.”

Most aeroplanes fly on automatic pilot. You can simply switch it off. In future, this won’t be possible, Mulder predicts. ”Already, there are ideas concerning the electronic limitation of a pilot’s freedom.” Even if a pilot would want to, an aeroplane would simply refuse to crash into a building. Or into a mountain, which often happens, Mulder says. ”But this would be a revolution in the aviation world. It will certainly take ten more years, I think, although it’s already possible technically.”

The floors of the structurally sound World Trade Center in New York collapsed like dominoes, much to the astonishment of millions of laymen around the world, as well as to Jacques Berenbak, a professor of bearing constructions design at Architecture. Berenbak was consulted by many Dutch media outlets last Tuesday and Wednesday.

”In general, floors keep hanging when they are burnt out,” Berenbak says. ”It was also a surprise to me, the whole building failed at a certain moment. Afterwards it is logical. But we haven’t got any experience with this; never before in history has anything like this happened.”

Berenbak is now amazed that the two WTC towers didn’t collapse immediately after the collisions. ”Apparently, the WTC had an enormous redundancy. Which other building could survive such a crash?” The fireproof concrete core, hard as rock, probably prevented the building from coming down at once. Every Dutch building would have collapsed, he says, ”because we work with bearing outer walls.”

Also in future it will be impossible to build buildings that are Boeing collision proof, Berenbak believes. ”Nuclear reactors are designed to be so, and, shortly, also buildings of the American government.” To build every civilian building Boeing-proof as well would simply be too expensive.

”An aeroplane flying right through a building, nothing can handlethat,” says safety expert Dr. Andrew Hale of the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. ”If one floor collapses, it’s almost certain al the floors underneath will go down as well.”

Hale continues: ”My big question is: did they expect the buildings to collapse after the impacts? Would the evacuations have happened quicker, would rescue workers have gone in, if they had known?” Because the WTC isn’t on any airport approach route, he suspects the contingency plan didn’t take such a disaster into account.

And neither do such contingency safety plans, covering everything that could possibly go wrong, exist for huge Dutch buildings. ”They do exist for the railroads and for Schiphol airport, for instance.”

In a few months the TU will have it’s own professorship in disaster-prevention. ”We’re busy with the appointment right now,” Hale reveals. The chair was occasioned by the disaster in Enschede. In this Dutch city a whole district was wiped out by the explosion of a fireworks factory. Hale: ”It will be the first professor contingency in the Netherlands.”

To fly an aeroplane it’s absolutely necessary to be trained, says Dr. Bob Mulder, an expert who is often consulted by the media. The professor of control and simulation at Aerospace Engineering continues: ”If you want to take over control, you have to know your way around in the cockpit. For instance, you must know how to switch off the automatic pilot.”

As it’s likely terrorists did take over control, he only has one explanation: ”They have trained themselves with flight simulators.” Appliances like the Delft simulator, Simona. ”Dozens of simulators exist throughout the whole world. They are owned by airline companies, but also by independent training centres, where you can hire simulators. Everybody can do that.”

According to Mulder, the possibility of an attack like the one in New York never occurred to policy makers. ”They always assumed: terrorists don’t take over the controls.”

Most aeroplanes fly on automatic pilot. You can simply switch it off. In future, this won’t be possible, Mulder predicts. ”Already, there are ideas concerning the electronic limitation of a pilot’s freedom.” Even if a pilot would want to, an aeroplane would simply refuse to crash into a building. Or into a mountain, which often happens, Mulder says. ”But this would be a revolution in the aviation world. It will certainly take ten more years, I think, although it’s already possible technically.”

The floors of the structurally sound World Trade Center in New York collapsed like dominoes, much to the astonishment of millions of laymen around the world, as well as to Jacques Berenbak, a professor of bearing constructions design at Architecture. Berenbak was consulted by many Dutch media outlets last Tuesday and Wednesday.

”In general, floors keep hanging when they are burnt out,” Berenbak says. ”It was also a surprise to me, the whole building failed at a certain moment. Afterwards it is logical. But we haven’t got any experience with this; never before in history has anything like this happened.”

Berenbak is now amazed that the two WTC towers didn’t collapse immediately after the collisions. ”Apparently, the WTC had an enormous redundancy. Which other building could survive such a crash?” The fireproof concrete core, hard as rock, probably prevented the building from coming down at once. Every Dutch building would have collapsed, he says, ”because we work with bearing outer walls.”

Also in future it will be impossible to build buildings that are Boeing collision proof, Berenbak believes. ”Nuclear reactors are designed to be so, and, shortly, also buildings of the American government.” To build every civilian building Boeing-proof as well would simply be too expensive.

”An aeroplane flying right through a building, nothing can handlethat,” says safety expert Dr. Andrew Hale of the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. ”If one floor collapses, it’s almost certain al the floors underneath will go down as well.”

Hale continues: ”My big question is: did they expect the buildings to collapse after the impacts? Would the evacuations have happened quicker, would rescue workers have gone in, if they had known?” Because the WTC isn’t on any airport approach route, he suspects the contingency plan didn’t take such a disaster into account.

And neither do such contingency safety plans, covering everything that could possibly go wrong, exist for huge Dutch buildings. ”They do exist for the railroads and for Schiphol airport, for instance.”

In a few months the TU will have it’s own professorship in disaster-prevention. ”We’re busy with the appointment right now,” Hale reveals. The chair was occasioned by the disaster in Enschede. In this Dutch city a whole district was wiped out by the explosion of a fireworks factory. Hale: ”It will be the first professor contingency in the Netherlands.”