Originally Posted by
Concours77
Only to add that if tail/wing stopped while fully connected and in proper structural alignment, the fuel mist explosion in the fuselage (tail) section would have met resistance at the dorsal, more robust area than the sides. Such an asymmetrical release of explosive gases would have rotated the tail and twisted it into the orientation we see in the photo.
I doubt that we can make this connection. We don't know if it impacted as a flip-over, which would be minimal spray, or coming down from some height as in my missing-forward-fuselage sim run which might give a considerable spray. And whether the conjectured fuel-air explosion would move the empennage is a guess too far, seems to me.
Far as I can see, accepting the CAB description means envisioning the aft section essentially sliding to a stop and then bursting into flames. Once you realize that it can't have been sliding backward, the questions multiply and the certainty drops.