Originally Posted by
G0ULI
Ignoring the fine details, the ailerons became detached from the control yokes while the aircraft was established in a right bank which steadily increased until the aircraft crashed.
The plane descended on a 5 degree slope over several hundred feet. After hitting a 50-ish foot high embankment it stayed in the air another 380 feet. If the bank steadily increased it should have hit about 1500 feet from where it did. In a steadily increasing bank it should have stalled at about 63 degrees with some 20 degrees more to roll before it hit. A steadily increasing bank should leave a path like a tightening spiral. Instead the path was a loosening spiral, with the plane going 4000 feet to the runway's right and only 2500 feet forward.
I have no definitive explanation as to how the rear fuselage ended up upside down at the end of the wreckage trail, but some descriptions at the time mention the aircraft somersaulting after the initial impact (post the rail road embankment strike) while breaking apart and shedding wreckage with what was left of the wings and rear fuselage pancaking level, right side up and sliding backwards along the ground. No mention is made of the wreckage spinning or turning, but if it did, then the drainage ditch may have allowed what was left of the aircraft to pitch over upside down. Perhaps this was what gave the impression of a somersault?
Possibly. This is the puzzle - how did the plane get to that position? And why did the CAB go public on the day of the crash with a scenario that is clearly wrong? Why was it not corrected in the final report?
I recognize that we're not talking about World Peace here. This doesn't have anything to do with the root cause. It's merely a very curious puzzle. Unwrapping it turned up other interesting bits, like the impossibility of being in a vertical bank at that location on the airport grounds.
I don't criticize the CAB investigators for providing less information than I'd like. I criticize the investigators for putting forth a clear and unambiguous scenario that is provably wrong. I criticize them for sticking to that story for the entire duration of the investigation.