Originally Posted by
Chris Scott
You may well be right - I'm no structures engineer, and the inevitable damage to the wingtip of the A330 is not visible in the video.
I simply wonder if the A321's fin-attachment bolts are designed to fail before the rear fuselage is over-stressed - bearing in mind the proximity of the pressure bulkhead. (For example, I think that philosophy does apply in the case of wing-mounted engine pylons.) But the A321 in this accident suffers a lot of sideways movement as the fin is struck.
I doubt any engineer designed the rudder attachment to fail to protect the fuselage. It would be a really bizarre design feature given what happens when the vertical stab fails in flight.