How did it end up like that with the nose up: what is holding it up?

Reason077 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Gravity. The aircraft is heavier at the back, where the engines are. With the nose severely damaged/missing, the centre of gravity has shifted aft, so what’s left of the nose is sticking up in the air.

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_moof 44 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Google "weight and balance" if you'd like an in-depth answer.

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cschmatzler 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Front fell off, people deplaned (while still horizontal) which shifted the balance backwards. It’s sitting on the rear bulkhead,

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weird-eye-issue 11 hours ago | parent [-]

I guess there is more weight in the relatively small section of the front that came off than I expected

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ambicapter an hour ago | parent | next [-]

It's balance, you don't need a large difference in weight for it to tilt backwards.

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fredoralive 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’d guess the front landing gear assembly is going to be fairly heavy, and appears to be missing. This model of plane also has its engines at the rear, not under the wing, which will move the balance to the back.

	▲	weird-eye-issue 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Oh yeah that definitely makes sense

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wat10000 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Planes typically have their center of gravity just forward of the rear wheels. This makes it easier to rotate on takeoff.

The margins are thin enough that certain planes will sometimes have people in the back get off first, before the people on the front, to avoid tipping onto the tail like this.