2012 Boeing 727 crash experiment

On 27 April 2012, a multinational team of television studios staged an airplane crash near Mexicali, Mexico. An unmanned Boeing 727-200, fitted with numerous cameras, crash test dummies and other scientific instruments, was flown into the ground. The exercise was filmed for television.

Flight

Several federal permits by the Mexican government were needed before the remote controlled flight and crash could be performed. In addition, the Mexican authorities stipulated that the aircraft had to be flown by humans during part of the flight, since it would be flying over a populated area.

The flight was piloted by captain Jim Bob Slocum, then controlled remotely by Chip Shanle, a former United States Navy pilot who worked at American Airlines.

The airplane took off from Mexicali International Airport in Mexicali, with three flight crew and three support jumpers, as well as a number of crash dummies, and with a chase plane Cessna Skymaster following close behind. As the flight progressed towards the Sonoran Desert of Baja California in Mexico, its occupants parachuted to safety via the 727's ventral airstair. Slocum was the last one to leave the jet, three minutes before impact. Shanle then flew the jetliner by remote control, from the chase plane.

The jetliner hit the ground at 140 mph, with a descent rate of 1500 ft/min. Upon impact, the Boeing 727 broke up into several sections, the main landing gear collapsing with the cockpit being torn off the fuselage.

The zone of the crash had been cordoned off by security teams, as well as Mexican police and military, for the safety of the public.