"Bucky" wrote in message
oups.com...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/plane_crash_investigation

I think this was reported a month ago as well, but there was another
round of news releases today stating that the pilots took their
Bombardier CJR200 to its maximum altitude of 41,000 ft. Afterwards,
both engines failed and they crashed before reaching an airport.

Of course, the pilots should not have experimented around, but is it
dangerous to take a plane to its max altitude? When the engineers
specify a maximum altitude, doesn't it still have to be safe at that
altitude?

When an aircraft's operating limitats are established, the idea is that you
should be able to safely operate the aircraft within those limitations.
Exceed the limitats beyond a certain safety factor, and bad things may
happen.

The question I have not seen answered is whether 41,000' is outside the
normal operating limits for the aircraft, particularly for its engines. If
so, these guys were playing test pilot, if not, there was nothing wrong,
foolish, dangerous, careless, or irresponsible with taking the aircraft to
that altitude.

KB