What Is The Coffin Corner In Aviation?

The language of the aviation industry is one that is full of fascinating but complex terms. While some terms are obvious enough for people to be able to work out their meanings from the words alone, others aren’t so explicit. One such term that, at face value, doesn’t seem to have an explicit meaning is ‘coffin corner.’ Let’s take a look at what this refers to.
Article link: simpleflying.com/aviation-cof...
Video sources:
777-200 KLM Asia Cockpit • Crossing the Atlantic ...
787-9 Air France Air to Air • Le Boeing 787 Dreamlin...
Air France A380 787 777 • We are Air France
A380 Etihad • A380 landing in Paris ...
SAS Norway Navigation cockpit • See Norway’s most spec...
777 SWISS • Fabulous views: new SW...
777 Cathay Pacific • Cathay Pacific - New L...
Photos:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Fra...
agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/galer...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Fra...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Fra...

[@adriantroncoso5840]

More videos like this please. Keep it going. Thanks!

[@robertcampbell1280]

Air France Flight 447 crashed because two low time First Officers were at the controls and had no idea about how to fly the aircraft by attitude reference. Add the fact that the Airbus Side Sticks are not interconnected, and neither pilot knew the the other was inputing different commands while the plane settled to the water in a stalled condition. The accident could have been avoided if the pilots had relied on the Attitude Gyros and realized that the plane could not remain airborne at that Angle of Attack and Airspeed given the thrust settings.

[@mikepearson7608]

Well this would make a lot more sense. I was wondering how the aircraft simply couldn't recover from the stall.

[@misterf2785]

The titanic of the Sky

[@mingming9604]

This applies a lot to the U-2 with the stall and over speed margin being 10kn or something like that at its cruising altitude of FL 700 . But the question is what is the exact margin for a regular airliner at FL 400? I imagine it to be a lot wider

[@geoff-lukebihler6157]

I think it's around 5kts for the u2

[@joachimstraarup1939]

It depends on the weight of the aircraft. On the 737-800/max I fly we have had margins at 10-15 knots aswell. Our computer onboard calculates and optimum altitude and max altitude - We are not allowed to go above the max altitude (could be FL 340 if we are heavy enough). It all depends on our route/traffic and reported turblence. :)

[@ambergris5705]

I was thinking exactly the same during this whole video!

[@Itapirkanmaa2]

The AF447 has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of the Coffin Corner!. The crew simply put the a/c at a too high angle of attack and kept it there all the way down to the sea.

[@XPLAlN]

In simple terms I think that sums up the investigation…..precipitated by the initial unreliable airspeed malfunction.

[@davo330]

I legit thought this was referring to the actual storage unit for people that pass away during flight. I believe SQ is the only carrier that has used this option for their A340-500 but it literally was a corner for bodies.

[@militaryav8r]

I LOVE the background music!

[@arjunpadmakumar2961]

The best music from simple flying

[@abcjelly]

Interesting💡 vids📺, love it! Next could do 'microburst'

[@9579philip]

Well explained so even I could get my head around it.

[@ekuche8335]

Excellent

[@bdharmichand6503]

Wounderful video

[@lastmanstanding9389]

Been in aviation my whole life and have never heard this term before.

[@eamonahern7495]

I did not know about the coffin corner. I remember that plane crash on the news but I didn't know what caused it. I knew aircraft had a ceiling and max speed but I wasn't aware of the effects of the coffin corner.

[@XPLAlN]

Coffin Corner has nothing to do with Mcrit. It is the region where the stall converges on maximum Mach number (MMO). MMO is not Mcrit and the author of the Bold Method website has mixed them up (which I doubt he would had he ever been type rated on a jet). Airliners typically cruise above Mcrit, so it is not a limiting speed like MMO is. However, the upper and lower speed limits are presented to the pilot on the speed tape so that is what matters operationally. Nonetheless it is annoying how many junior pilots are holding onto misconceptions based on watching YT videos like this rather than studying the technical literature.

[@magnustan841]

the terms “downwind” and “base leg” have eluded me recently.

[@GaneshNayak]

Nice video.. though would have loved more explanation on why mach speed reduces with altitude and why stall speed increases

[@Robert-vw3od]

The aviation industry is about to reach an economic coffin corner.

[@sergiolaurencio7534]

It this continue, yes

[@davidleider4372]

an ABA on language of the aviation industry would be nice

[@indiangooner7727]

HR - Human Remains

[@ronadityahazarika2564]

What happened to the A320-100???? Pls make a video on it

[@memarks]

Seems like the pitot tube is a weak link in aircraft sensors. So many crashes linked to pitot tube failure.

[@Alb410]

@@donaldstanfield8862 because its a sensor. even if we replace it with a better one, all things fail eventually. So instead, the way we get over it is pilot training to properly deal with the situations. Many of these crashes are due to pilots incorrectly doing things in a scenario where they are effectively blinded by the failure of these systems.

[@CaptainJadenAR]

@@Alb410 I agree with you. 100%

[@daftvader4218]

Air France A330 were fitted with pitot tubes which were known to be poor performers in icing conditions. I believe they were all changed afterwards !!! The blocked pitot sent no speed info to the autopilot so it disconnected. All the pilots had to do was to maintain the aircraft pitch and engine power to stay in level cruise. Simple !!. Basic power/pitch airmanship. Speed? Check GPS !?? Fly out of icing area... Re-engage autopilot !! They were not pilots !!

[@rithvikkumar5391]

can you explain about rudder blanking

[@etmoem]

nice

[@Invalid.Argument]

I want a video on the narrator! ❤️

[@ozfcl]

Atpl stuff, great! Maybe one on the lift formula could be nice! Also, centrifugal/centripetal forced

[@XPLAlN]

Check out flightinsights channel he just did the general lift equation.

[@guyorsini1044]

The term "Coffin Corner" dates back to the daylight bombing missions of WW2 The B-17's and B-24's flew in what was called a "Bomber Box" formation where the machine gunners of all the ships in the formation could mutually support each other. The groups flew in 2 "V" formations of 3 planes each with each box made up 3 squadrons with the third formation actually consisting of 7 bombers, the 7th plane, consisting of the least experienced aircrew, being on the outer edge of the formation and in trail of the rest . This was also called "Purple Heart Corner" for reasons of survivability, or lack thereof.

[@daftvader4218]

Sorry that's another corner. Coffin corner is so called because of the shape of the performance stall/overspeed graph produced resembles the shoulder area of a coffin.....showing reducing safety margins... .......emphasising the danger of operating at high altitudes! !!!

[@guyorsini1044]

@@daftvader4218 I do realize that, but a good turn of phrase tens to get reused for different meanings over the years, and for what it is worth it has the same effect, pay very close attention to your situational awareness or end up dead.

[@RaulRodriguez-wr8lq]

Thanks good explanation,so many things involve when plane its in the air,or ground.

[@FirstLast_Nba]

AF447 is the only modern air disaster that really upsets everyone, what a coward first officer, reminds me of that Italian sea captain.

[@Rufus_L]

You mean the costa concordia captain

[@deus_ex_machina_]

@@Rufus_L Yeah the captain who was ordered by an Italian Coast Guard officer to head back to man the ship until all passengers were evacuated. The recording of which is available on KZbin. Truly an embarrassment to voyagers everywhere.

[@Carlos44]

In the case of AF447 it wasn't a matter of cowardice, but stupidity--failure to understand basic flight dynamics and, despite something like 43 seconds of stall warning, no attempt at recovery until it was too late.

[@deus_ex_machina_]

@@Carlos44 Not to mention the horrendous communication between the two. Airbus never foresaw that one pilot would pull up and another push down when they designed the avionics.

[@filledwithvariousknowledge2747]

@@deus_ex_machina_ They need to use the interconnected side sticks as those work like the yoke whilst still being space saving like the current non-interconnected type

[@Hattonbank]

I completely misunderstood the title of this video until I looked at it. I thought that the "coffin corner" might have referred to a seat where the cabin crew put any passenger who was unfortunate to die during the flight. But then my daughter, who used to be cabin crew, told me that if a passenger died on a full flight, the crew just had no choice but to keep the corpse strapped into their seat until landing. Not very nice for the passengers in the next seats.

[@arnoldcobarrubias6593]

SQ's A345s:

[@nurrizadjatmiko21]

I remember that

[@nassermj7671]

We called it stall on my puddle jumper.

[@ehsan83]

excellent, very informative thank you

[@johnmorrison8153]

Actually, it was pretty much entirely wrong. Critical Mach number (Mcrit) has nothing to do with a coffin corner - in fact, many jets cruise above Mcrit! The coffin corner is the small difference between stall speed and max operating Mach number, which is typically constant above 20,000 ft or so. And it is a stretch to say the Air France crash had to do with the coffin corner. Air data sensors failed, reducing pilot awareness. The pilot nosed up the airplane until it stalled. The same pilot kept pulling the nose up, keeping it in a stall.

[@Tobu9105F]

the more you learn, the more you know

[@luckyme4136]

Please explain "Mile High Club".

[@paullacey2999]

I would need a lady to help on this one😉

[@luckyme4136]

@@paullacey2999 Find a lady. Reward her with a creampie.

[@teeembeee]

@@paullacey2999 not nowadays.....

[@jayyydizzzle]

How would a plane escape the coffin corner?

[@asliceofcheese7152]

Probably very careful maneauvering

[@khuslen_av8r]

So let’s say you fly into coffin corner and enter a low or high speed stall. Can you recover from any of them?

[@karlelias]

AF447 was not able to. If you are aware of the situation, you surely can recover by simply pushing the nose of the airframe downwards. However, in case of AF447, the pilots were not aware of the situation that they pitched the aircraft to the coffin corner, nor were they aware of the stall afterwards. the coffin corner is a lot easier to understand in theory, then it is in the air.

[@SwissMarksman]

Laughs in U-2 Dragon Lady.

[@Metoobie]

There was pretty much no explanation of the involved physics...?

[@J_Teriyaki]

Please define the maximum 100 hours per month for pilots. Is it over 28 days or a calendar month?. Is time in the bunk (on long haul flights) NOT included?. What about logbook hours (often quoted in Air Crash Investigation)?. Is it every minute on the flight deck?. Cheers🥤

[@daftvader4218]

100 flight hours max per 28 rolling days. If you are operating crew, that includes a multi pilot crew , your flight time starts at chocs away and ends when the chocs go in. These are the times all the crew of that particular flight record in their log book.

[@MSRTA_Productions]

🤔

[@ankitsharma-gx6wl]

yes i knewexplanin ground speed and air speed,

[@patrickphair488]

Air China?

[@Robert-vw3od]

Nose down, maintain stability.

[@empatil9335]

What do FL300&400 mean?

[@gunterchain]

30000 feet and 40000 feet. Flight level is just the number * 100 feet nothing complicated

[@mrtank2010]

222k subs

[@nelsonricardo3729]

Silly me! I was expecting a lesson on how the crew store the corpses of passengers who die in-flight.

[@BlindBatG34]

Your are thinking of the Corpse Corral.

[@daftvader4218]

In a body bag in a toilet marked "unserviceable " !!

[@ronaldcuieii4775]

Am confused by "squawking." Essentially, what is it? Anyone?

[@daftvader4218]

Your are given a specific identifying four numbers for your secondary radar transponder control box. Once entered that is what you are "squawking " The secondary radar controller can then positively identify you and your flight data. If you are asked to "squawk" Just push a button on that box and you blip his secondary radar screen. Positive ID ! As opposed to Primary radar which is just a simple blip on a screen.

[@ronaldcuieii4775]

@@daftvader4218 Hi, thank you so much for your reply. I will use this information as one of my reference points.

[@ivanviera4773]

Yeah remember that AF crash with Coffin Corner the margin of error its very small. Overspeed can cause the dangerous Mach Tuck.

[@dougharris7665]

Other terminology that might be improved?....calling the arrival building a 'Terminal'.....or, when landing, pilots are sometimes directed into a 'Drop Dead Approach'....and others.

[@dumindudesilva083]

Contrails and Fuel Dumping

[@peoplesambassadordm8279]

I'm no pilot but I'd set spoilers on, then descend on idle... hopefully that should drop it while not increasing too much speed , then maneuver to regain control... 🤷‍♂️ my guess

[@sam3407]

Read about the specifics of the tragic crash…

[@daftvader4218]

Spoilers !!!???? You don't have to tell us you know absolutely nothing about aviation. So why do you feel the need to comment about something you abviously know nothing about. ??!!

[@peoplesambassadordm8279]

@@daftvader4218 this is not a test, ... If humans don't want public opinion then disable commenting..

[@daftvader4218]

@@peoplesambassadordm8279 They want sensible comment not uninformed "opinion" especially of this quality.

[@sam3407]

@@daftvader4218 exactly my thoughts. We’re not absolved from the effects of misinformation.

[@edwinpaulino6674]

I Heard Delta About To Order 💯 Boeing 737 Max 10 ?

[@melodiousking4598]

100th viewer

[@seanwathen8863]

It’s like the constant BATTLE Between The Sexes🦋🦋🍋🚺🚺🚼💍💍❌💀🧿🍊🍋🍋

[@Whatsupvideosnew]

Very poorly explained.

[@christianjensen5523]

I’ve watched a few of these now and I’m out… FL 380 is never read as, “EF EL 380”? Sorry, not interested in a narrator who googled some stuff reading a script who has no idea what he’d reading.

[@Alb410]

? These people gave been publishing articles about aviation for years? What part of that equals "has no idea what he's reading?" If you're going to make a hate comment, please make one that makes sense.

[@daftvader4218]

Christian....you are absolutely correct ...what a muppet who cannot read a text with understanding. ....

[@daftvader4218]

@@Alb410 No professional aviator talks like that.....that is the point !!

[@christianjensen5523]

I’d say my comment was pretty clear and I stand by it completely