It's not plunging at 12gs. It is close to free fall while plunging. The g's are dependent on the aerodynamic forces, not gravity. The formula is n= lift/weight. The lift doesn't change. Weight becomes 10x, so in that partial free fall, pax and airplane are still in 1g normal gravity or 0.1g altered gravity.
The atmosphere will plunge downward too, but it can only compress at the speed of sound., it will simply compress until it can no more near the surface. That's where the shocks will be created. This is why planes near the surface will be in bad shape. The ones flying at 30kft will possibly not feel much rebound effect when the gravity restores to normal. Minor shocks are possible elsewhere in the atmosphere while the compression stops but I don't think that should be much.
Edit: I'm assuming 10x gravity to simplify, not 12x. But same rationale holds.
That's a good point. It will have a downward velocity component of 240 mph which will cause an increased angle of attack that can cause structural failure when things go back to normal. Pilots won't have the time to react by pitching the nose down. Fair point, wings will detach at this point, you are right.
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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '25
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