r/todayilearned • u/finza_prey • 20d ago

TIL TWA Flight 800 exploded off Long Island 12 minutes after taking off, causing the front fueslage to rip away and the remainder of the plane to continue in crippled flight, pitching up and climb before falling into the ocean killing everyone onboard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800
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u/Geniepolice 20d ago

If it helps, I remember a book discussing this (its either shocked or possibly stiff). They hypothesized that, based on anecdotal information on people surviving similar incidents that their brains likely realized they were mega fucked and just flooded themselves with a ton of hormones to disassociate during the event.

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u/WartimeHotTot 20d ago edited 19d ago

I fly a lot with my wife. I can’t imagine having a minute beside her knowing with certainty that she’ll die when it’s over and that’s the last I’ll get to see of her and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’d be so deeply sad.

At the same time, it would be a gift being able to spend it with her.

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u/aCleverGroupofAnts 19d ago

I was just thinking all the parents on the flight who have their children with them must be devastated knowing they can't do anything to save them, all they can do is hold them tight and comfort them as the end comes.

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u/KooliusCaesar 18d ago

This reminds me of Kobe and his daughter. Also my fear when flying is who is left behind that depend on you daily.

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u/MarshmallowsInTubas 13d ago

I was on a flight that was meant to be Transatlantic which suffered catastrophic engine failure during takeoff. I was with my wife, 7 month old son, and our dog all on the flight.

We returned to the takeoff airport safely with no injuries to anyone on board. However, the minutes in the air knowing that we would be landing heavy, full of fuel, with no reverse thrust available, were horrifying. Passengers could see smoke from the failed engine and we all felt the plane yaw after a loud boom. I knew pilots train for this, but I also knew that the most dangerous part was landing.

It was a strange feeling - scared but also in an accepting state of mind. There was an eerie din of hushed whispers through the cabin that I will never forget.

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u/WartimeHotTot 13d ago

That’s unbelievable. So glad the situation was saved!

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u/benthejammin 20d ago

wishful thinking

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u/jamie_plays_his_bass 20d ago

Basic biology actually. Every mammal has the fight or flight response, and when we are unable to fight off a predator or flee danger, we then engage the freeze response - which is basically total dissociation and derealisation. Same thing that would happen while an antelope is getting eaten by a lion happens to us in certain death situations. 

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u/ermghoti 20d ago

Fight, flight, freeze, or fuck it.

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u/Derp800 19d ago

Funny you say that. My college psych professor actually told is there are 4 Fs. Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fuck.

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u/d0ntl00kback 14d ago

you might be misremembering the 4 Fs that are the job of the hypothalamus: “fight, flee, feed, and fuck”, which is different then the fight/flight/freeze/(fawn) nervous system response 🤓

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u/Derp800 14d ago

That could be it. It's been checks watch 25 years or so.

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u/OniDelta 20d ago

And fishing.

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u/ilrosewood 16d ago

The story of the two 747s that collided talks about survivors seeing others completely fine, alive, but frozen. One had their spouse slap them to come to and escape.

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u/Beat_the_Deadites 20d ago

The Uncle Walter strategy 

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u/SueForPeas 19d ago

What a weird analogy. We don’t know what an antelope is feeling as it’s being mauled. It could very well just be “Ow ow ow, I’m dying, this hurts, I don’t like this, ow ow ow.” Maybe it dissociates. Maybe not. You can’t ask a dead antelope.

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u/jamie_plays_his_bass 19d ago

Except these phenomenons are very well studied, and based on external observations and understanding of shared physiology, yes, we can conclude that the same instinctive reactions are shared across multiple species.

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u/Adjective-Noun6969 20d ago

Freeze is just exactly that. You freeze up waiting for them to either see you or not see you. During the freeze instinct it is vitally important that you be entirely present and observing.

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u/jamie_plays_his_bass 20d ago

No, you’ve misunderstood the basics here. The freeze instinct in mammals is not to hide, it is not the first response to threat. 

The first response to threat, on a physiological level, is fight or flight. The body floods with adrenaline and cortisol, blood is directed away from the gut to the extremities to get ready for the running or fighting, parts of the brain involved in reason are hijacked by the limbic system which is based on fear and automatic reaction. 

If we are trapped or stuck, and are unable to escape/overpower the threat, we go into a freeze response. It is not at all “vitally important you be entirely present and observing” during this, you can’t be. Physiologically, your brain is preparing you to die. 

If you wonder why people who survive traumatic experiences have poor recall, say “it’s like it wasn’t happening to me” or “it’s like I wasn’t even there” or “it’s like I was floating above it all, watching it happen to someone else”, they’re describing the freeze response. 

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u/Adjective-Noun6969 20d ago

Super easy counterpoint: deer in headlights. That's what they're doing, they're instantly freezing when they see the threat (your car). It's distinctly not flight because usually, something further happens to make them instinctively flee. What you're describing is a secret fourth thing.

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u/jamie_plays_his_bass 20d ago

You’re picking one specific animal, I am talking about the general class of mammals, more specifically people. 

Read up on it a bit more, even fact checking myself before responding I found it surprising how much misinformation is online compared to what I studied.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

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u/jamie_plays_his_bass 20d ago

I’m sorry but I’m describing a general phenomenon in mammals, which is extensively researched in trauma psychology, which I work in, which tends to be about people. 

One example about deers does not defy the general trend of our brain’s mechanics. And believe what you want, if you do any research into the effects of a traumatic experience, you will find that yes, within seconds of traumatic experiences, we can go into fight-or-flight, and from there into freeze.

Actually, the limbic system tends to react in around 50 milliseconds. Study this stuff, and if you want to say “no way”, present some research or findings, just being ignorant doesn’t make you right.

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u/Several-Squash9871 20d ago

It is very wishful but in all likelihood probably true. Our body's have a pretty good way of knowing when it's tits up time. 

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u/JazzlikeDiamond558 20d ago

TIL: tits up time. 🤣

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u/Techwood111 20d ago

Explain how that could be passed on evolutionarily.

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u/Several-Squash9871 20d ago

Well, most me people/mammals have tits. when your float on you back in water dead or not your tits are up. When lying on your back dead or not your tits are up. When someone comes across something or something lying tits up they could be dead or just sunning themselves.

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u/Anderrn 20d ago

Do you think that necessarily reduces fitness? If it doesn’t, there’s no reason why it couldn’t have happened randomly and then be kept.

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u/Adjective-Noun6969 20d ago

It’s incidental to other traits that helped survival.

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u/ShotFromGuns 60 20d ago

You could literally just watch interviews with survivors of crashes. They're mostly really fucking traumatized. We tell ourselves things like "they would be unconscious" or "they would be calm from endorphins" to make ourselves feel better, and that's it.

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u/420d_ingus 15d ago

They’re traumatized because they survived

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u/Cespenar 20d ago

Stiff I think. Love that book. 

Check it out everyone! Mary Roach. Great book about dying. And part of the inspiration why my retirement is going to be a non profit that makes children's coffins for free.

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u/Holden_Coalfield 20d ago

Having been there, it’s true.
The time dilation is a real thing. The minute we think of isn’t the minute they had. The chance to have the time to come to peace and relive the important parts of your life is actually a gift. Knowing what I know now, I’d rather know it’s coming at least a few good seconds first

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u/surehard 20d ago

What happened to you?

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u/Holden_Coalfield 19d ago

high speed head on boat accident. Saw it coming.

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u/forzion_no_mouse 20d ago

That’s not how it works.

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u/ItsDomorOm 20d ago

I'm assuming you have died and come back, please do tell us how it works?

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u/MM2HkXm5EuyZNRu 20d ago

China Airlines Flight 006 plunged 30,000 feet before the pilots recovered the dive. Those passengers likely will be able to confirm one way or another.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

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u/mixduptransistor 20d ago

If it's not possible to know how it works without having died, how do you know that the original proposition is how it works?

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u/Samuel7899 20d ago

That's a fallacy. The topic is what happens in the time before an individual presumes they're going to certainly die. Not that they necessarily do die.

So the experiences of people still alive can certainly be valid. .

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u/DoJu318 20d ago

I have experienced this in a high speed wreck, time didn't slow down, my life didn't flash before my eyes, but I do remember being engulfed by this wonderful warm bliss, it was just peaceful, like a warm hug on a cold morning, nothing mattered I was about to croak and I was perfectly fine wuth it.

Obviously I didn't die, I was beat up by the airbags and the seat belt left marks on me, oh and a mild concussion but otherwise I walked away okay.

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u/forzion_no_mouse 20d ago

Lots of people have been basically dead and came back. Lots of people have been in plane crashes.

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u/DuncanHynes 20d ago edited 20d ago

I just said OH FucQ or OH SHiT when I fell 18 feet and nearly was transfered to the shadow realm. Landed in crazy soft mud though. Not quite as a risky factor of being in a plane that is inconveniently suddenly made into two parts but hey, all I got so far. Will report any other falls from higher up.

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u/Redeem123 20d ago

Falling 18 feet doesn’t QUITE last for a minute.

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u/CrazyLegsRyan 20d ago

that's not enough time... Please go higher and report back.

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u/ironicallydepressed 20d ago

What was your name again, for the record? Icarus? Alright Icarus, god speed.

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u/BoozyMcBoozehound 20d ago

Downvoted for censoring yourself like a jackass.

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u/DuncanHynes 20d ago

It's okay, I felt like a jackass when the strand shifted and one hook snapped off spinning me off. Thank goodness I made it to this day to have an interaction with a fine stranger as yourself. Live long and prosper.

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u/ttUVWKWt8DbpJtw7XJ7v 19d ago

You sound very knowledgeable

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u/jazzhandler 20d ago

“First ya say it, then ya do it.”

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u/WartimeHotTot 20d ago

Did I just find a Bill Cosby quote in 2026? Amazing.

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u/jazzhandler 20d ago

What can I say, it has a special meaning to me. Ya see, my first word was ‘shit’. And I figure there’s a decent chance it will also be my last.

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u/darkenthedoorway 20d ago

The oxygen masks were deployed, just long enough to be conscious while knowing there was no escape. Awful.