News Analysis: Landing Gear Failure of a Metal Fuselage Boeing 767-300ER of Saudi Arabia Airlines, illustrate a safety concern many Aircraft Structural Engineers have been concerned about Composite Fuselages: “Detonated ‘Egg-Shell’ Energy Transfer”. In this incident, because it HAS a Metal Fuselage, only ‘Crushed Deformation’ occurred on the ‘Aircraft’s Underside. The Metal’s Deformation Process converted the Kinetic Energy back to Potential Energy.
A Composite Fuselage, experiencing the same event, would evidence, the Kinetic Energy causing Embrittlement of the Adhesive/Fabric Matrix (Plasticizer Failure) with a Energy Release causing the Composite Material to ‘fly apart’, typically, along Energy Vectors. Visibly, there would not be ‘Denting’ like metal. An appearance of Detonation, like a small explosion had taken place would prevail; pieces of the underside of the fuselage would be strewn everywhere.
In this particular Airliner crash due to faulty landing gear, 29 people were injured. One might reasonably expect a Composite Fuselage Incident to be far worse.
Reality.
Reference: http://www.arabnews.com/news/503901