Do they kill people on the ground?
Quase certamente alguns fazem.
Pessoas atingidas por balas caindo são mais propensas a morrer do que pessoas atiradas diretamente. As chances de uma bala cair sobre uma pessoa são muito pequenas, mas ao longo das décadas, muitas balas foram disparadas por aviões.
Balas de revólver
Between the years 1985 and 1992, doctors at the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, treated some 118 people for random falling-bullet injuries. Thirty-eight of them died.
Bullets fired into the air during celebrations return at a speed fast enough to penetrate the skin and cause internal damage to other organs in the path of the migrating bullet. The bullet’s velocity required for skin penetration is between 148 and 197 feet per second. A velocity of less than 200 feet per second, which is easily obtained by a celebratory gunfire, is capable of fracturing bone and even causing intracranial penetration [4]. Spent bullets have the capability of reaching up to 600 feet per second during their downfall, and thus they have the ability to inflict damage to multiple body cavities [4]. The larger caliber bullets (ie, .45-caliber) reach a higher terminal velocity compared with the smaller caliber bullets (ie, .30-caliber), because of the proportion of their weight to their diameter [4].
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For those hit by falling bullets, the chance of the wound being fatal was far higher than a typical shooting. The hospital put deaths from regular shootings between 2% and 6%, while for those struck by falling bullets the death rate was close to one third.
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Rodadas de aeronaves
Estas balas caindo eram de fogo de comemoração, não disparadas de aeronaves.
Projéteis de bombardeio de canhão de aeronave que são freqüentemente muito mais pesados que projéteis de arma de fogo. Se alguém cair sobre você, a probabilidade de ferimentos ou morte deve ser maior.
.22 Winchester magnum rimfire e .50 Browning MG rodam na mesma escala. fonte