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--- mv_elsie_macgill [2025/08/16 06:09] – dawn
+++ mv_elsie_macgill [2025/08/16 07:29] (current) – dawn
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 MV //Elsie MacGill// was an [[eridani_systems_inc]] heavy freighter of the //[[esi_sheila_mcguffie-class_freighter|Sheila McGuffie]]// class. Launched in 4127, it was purchased and operated by [[frangmire_astral_refineries]] until its loss in an accident in 4154.
-===== Specifications =====
+===== Description =====
-The ship was identical to the other ships in its class, measuring (not counting antennae) 415 metres in length, 155 metres in width, and 120 metres in height. Main propulsion was provided by four ESI vectored fusion drives, with an additional four dedicated vertical lift engines. Although notionally operable a single person, or even in an entirely automated mode, the ship was authorised to fly with a minimum crew of 10.
+The ship was identical to the other ships in its class, measuring (not counting antennae) 415 metres in length, 155 metres in width, and 120 metres in height. The ship consisted of a roughly rectangular main hull containing the engines and cargo bays, with the bow section and bridge protruding at the front centre. Main propulsion was provided by four ESI vectored fusion drives, with an additional four dedicated vertical lift engines. Although notionally operable a single person, or even in an entirely automated mode, the ship was authorised to fly with a minimum crew of 10.
 ===== Loss =====
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 Maintaining altitude and speed, the ship flew a wide circle, attempting to remain roughly near the approach path and hopefully resume its planned descent. But the transit plating continued to overheat, starting to burn through in areas damaged by the previous impact. To make that problem worse, the internal cooling systems were not only beginning to overstress, but were also suffering damage from the spreading effects of the breach. As their cooling capacity reduced, the plating burnthrough sped up.
+While four of the crew left the bridge to investigate the internal alarms, the captain finally decided to declare an emergency. At 2332, a cutter lifted off from the Prandari spaceport to rendezvous with MV //Else MacGill// and provide assistance. However, the captain declined to return to orbit, fearing that the depressurisation alarms meant the ship was no longer spaceworthy.
+At 2335, the internal destruction reached the outer hull on the starboard side, aft of the transit plating coverage. The hull plating here was much weaker by design, and simply blew out under the extreme wind pressure. With plate edges now exposed to the external airflow, the ship began to rapidly shed plates from the starboard side, in turn exposing even more of the interior to the wind. Many of the dislodged panels also struck the front of the starboard main hull, creating a chain reaction of hull damage. At 2337, a flying hull plate destroyed one of the starboard reverse thrusters.
+With the loss of so much of the hull plating, the ship's aerodynamic properties were now seriously degraded. The increased drag caused it to both yaw and roll to starboard. The maneuvering thrusters were initially able to compensate, but the problem continued to worsen. At 2338, apparently cued by the alarm concerning the destruction of the reverse thruster, the first officer moved to the starboard bridge wing and looked out at the hull aft of the bridge. The sight was evidently alarming; she shouted that the ship was "disintegrating", which it essentially was.
+At 2340, atmospheric abrasion disabled the other starboard reverse thruster. Moments later, internal damage breached the fuel system for the starboard forward main lift engine, causing it to shut down. Without this source of lift, and pulled downwards by aerodynamic drag, the ship's starboard roll worsened. Airflow began to strike the top of the ship. While the upper hull remained largely undamaged, this started to push the ship downwards even more. With the bow coming down, the ship could no longer use aerodynamic lift, and began to lose altitude.
+Around 2343, the cutter made visual contact with MV //Elsie MacGill// and reported the seriousness of the situation to traffic control. The traffic controller immediately ordered the ship to break away from the landing pattern, return to orbit if possible, and if not, follow a course for a landing away from inhabited areas. Captain Kubira attempted to comply, but the ship was now nose-down and gaining speed, and pitching up proved to be impossible with the remaining maneuvering thrusters. At 2348, he ordered an evacuation in the ship's shuttle, and set the autopilot to attempt a landing in a lake on the largely uninhabited Prandari-ya continent.
+Aside from some minor injuries suffered while trying to assess the internal damage, the crew evacuated safely. At 2358, their shuttle was picked up by the cutter, which then followed the descending ship until it spiralled into a mountain some 270km short of the target lake.
+==== Aftermath ====
+The impact of such a large ship at high speed caused significant damage to the mountain and the surrounding area. However, there were no people nearby, and so no casualties. Due to the sparse vegetation on Prandari, the fires resulting from the crash were relatively easily contained, and were allowed to burn out on their own within the wreckage. The cleanup effort afterwards took several years; the mountain was never restored to its original shape, and is now known as Mt. Elsie MacGill.
+Given the obvious circumstances of the crash, there was immediate speculation that the incident had been caused by a failure of the transit plating. While it is technically true that there //was// a failure of the transit plating, it had actually performed according to its design specifications. It was not intended to resist an impact from such a large object, and in fact had prevented the initial damage from being significantly worse than it was. The ship remained flightworthy after the first incident. The true cause of the final crash was the crew's failure to take the damage into account when landing. If they had slowed down, the re-entry process would have been rather more delicate, but ultimately successful.
+It was also noted that the crew had failed to deploy the covers for the anticollision lasers, which //could// have led to an impact which actually did in itself threaten the safety of the crew; and that they had not taken any measures to reinforce the HDET closing the hull breach. Replacement hull plates and transit plates were available, and while a perfect repair was not possible with the available equipment, something much more resilient could have been put in place.
+Ultimately, it was judged that while Frangmire provided adequate training for its crews, it did not maintain a suitable culture of adherence to that training in service, leading to an unsafe attitude on the part of the accident crew. The company was held liable for the ecological damage and the loss of the cargo. The resulting bad press led to a significant downsizing over the following few years.
+ESI made some changes to the design of its anticollision lasers to make them more resistant to weather damage, and some subsequent ship classes were fitted with retractable turrets rather than relying on manually-fitted protective covers, although this feature never became universal.
 {{tag> starships league_era}}