--- title: NASA Just Crashed a Perfectly Good Plane for Science description: The organization's Langley facility is developing next-generation search-and-rescue technology canonical: https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/ author: Eric Dodds article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-30T14:49:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:44:44.723Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch NASA Crash a Perfectly Good Plane for Science og:description: "This is exactly what we wanted," said researchers og:url: https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6f8f8e6bb9ed3ca/69885d333c1639a2544590d7/cessna-172-nasa-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NASA Crash Test og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch NASA Crash a Perfectly Good Plane for Science twitter:description: "This is exactly what we wanted," said researchers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6f8f8e6bb9ed3ca/69885d333c1639a2544590d7/cessna-172-nasa-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch NASA Crash a Perfectly Good Plane In the Name of Science by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jul 30, 2015 2:49 PM UTC  A Cessna 172 plane hangs from a gantry before a crash test at NASA Langley Research Center on July 29, 2015, in Hampton, Va. A Cessna 172 plane hangs from a gantry before a crash test at NASA Langley Research Center on July 29, 2015, in Hampton, Va.Kaitlin McKeown—AP by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jul 30, 2015 2:49 PM UTC On Wednesday, researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia raised a Cessna 172 aircraft 100 feet in the air, suspended by cables, and then [dropped](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=64&v=FsRwlr7RDkk) it right down into an enormous pile of dirt. It smashed into the ground nose-first, flipping onto its back and delivering tremendous force to the pair of crash-test dummies within. The scientists, by all accounts, were happy. “This will provide very good data collection for us,” said Lisa Mazzuca, NASA’s Search and Rescue mission manager. “This is exactly what we wanted. The nose hit the ground first.” The goal, [according](https://www.nasa.gov/langley/second-crash-test-harvests-valuable-data-to-improve-emergency-response) to NASA’s team, is to improve aviation emergency response times: --- > “” --- The first test was conducted on July 1, with the plane crashing into concrete rather than soil. Researchers hope the series of experiments will improve systems designed to help emergency responders locate downed planes by keeping those systems functional after a crash. \[[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/langley/second-crash-test-harvests-valuable-data-to-improve-emergency-response)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/"},"headline":"Watch NASA Crash a Perfectly Good Plane In the Name of Science","datePublished":"2015-07-30T14:49:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:44:44.723Z","description":"The organization's Langley facility is developing next-generation search-and-rescue technology","url":"https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/","keywords":["Research","NASA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6f8f8e6bb9ed3ca/69885d333c1639a2544590d7/cessna-172-nasa-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6f8f8e6bb9ed3ca/69885d333c1639a2544590d7/cessna-172-nasa-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NASA Crash Test","caption":"NASA Crash Test","creditText":"Kaitlin McKeown—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3978477/nasa-plane-crash-video/","name":"Watch NASA Crash a Perfectly Good Plane In the Name of Science"}}]}] ```