NASA just crashed a plane in the name of science...
The space agency dropped a Cessna 172 from 100 feet and filmed it, in order to test five commercially available emergency locator transmitters.
The incredible footage of the crash, from the 26th August in Hampton Virginia, follows the downfall of the aircraft as it meets its bitter end.
The plane was purposefully crashed
The Cessna dropped into the soil and flipped over, marking the third trial with different planes that have taken place at NASA's Langley Research Center.
Although damaging the aircraft, the body was surprisingly in tact after the head-on collision.
The aftermath of the experiment
Two tests took place during the experiment, the first crash simulation was a low-level nose-first collision onto concrete, where the plane skidded on the surface.
The second was a nose-first dive into dirt, which just absorbed the plane’s impact and led to a definitely harmful and quite possibly lethal crumpling of the craft.
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This is not the first time that NASA have purposefully crashed a plane and in July, a similar operation took place.