Originally Posted by
Captain_Swoop
Well, one is an aircraft made of aluminium, the other is a ship made of a hull made from continuous steel plate backed by forged steel ribs and horizontal steel decks etc.
A 767 is an aircraft made out of aluminium and the towers are made out of hollow steel columns.
If an aluminium aircraft can crash into a steel ship and break through the continuous steel of the hull, why can't a much bigger and heavier aircraft break through the columns of the building?
Well, besides the fact that the hull was plate steel, not a series of square columns (only one surface to contend with), there's the simple fact of the BOMBS attached to the WARPLANE.
Quote:
Later investigation indicated that a Jap suicide plane, probably a Tony Kawasaki Ki-61 carrying three 132 lb. bombs hit the ship on the port side at the water line in the vicinity of frame 80. The ship was holed in three places: A seven foot hole in the engine room at the water line caused by the
engine and fuselage to which it is believed was attached a bomb which was the first explosion, a ten inch hole in the engine room about 2 feet above the water line
caused by a bomb which was later discovered as a dud, and a four foot hole in Compartment A-304-EL a crew's berthing space,
caused by a bomb which was the second explosion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hinsdale_%28APA-120%29
Kamikaze planes did indeed cause considerable damage to steel hulls in WWII. Most Kamikaze planes that were used specifically for Kamikaze attack were little more than
flying torpedoes designed to puncture steel hulls. However what's clear when looking at these images is the wings didn't punch through the steel.
The 767 was presumably not so equipped.