Here’s Where All The Aluminum Goes After A Commercial Aircraft Crashes

Every time a commercial aircraft crashes, the world’s attention turns immediately to the investigators. Traditional commercial narrowbodies like the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 are composed of roughly 70–80% aluminum by structural weight, a figure confirmed by the National Academies of Sciences in its landmark report on aerospace materials. The path that material travels after the cameras leave, from cordoned wreckage field to secure forensic facility to industrial smelter, is far more complex, regulated, and technically demanding than most people ever consider.