The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has to withstand 150% of its wing's load limit for three seconds. It looks like the upcoming airliner can handle the stress just fine. [Jalopnik]
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has to withstand 150% of its wing's load limit for three seconds. It looks like the upcoming airliner can handle the stress just fine. [Jalopnik]
DISCUSSION
Not only do the tests require a certain amount of load before failure, but the failure itself has to happen according to an intended plan. In other words, the wings have to break in a specific way or they don't pass.
While the majority of these test videos of various aircraft usually pass the load test, several of them have later been found to have failed in the wrong places or in the wrong way, causing costly re-engineering.