Originally Posted by SUPERMNNN
A simple question should be, yes or no, if the transponder was switched on by the pilot, if not, why? (Forflight 93 sent out two signals before crashing, 6400 ft and 4800 ft)
Unfortunately the "truth" is not binary (even in physics - think of quantum mechanics) , it is not true or false, on or off - there are all shades from white to black, one man's truth is another man's fairytale - nobody will ever know why the transponder was turned on again, we can speculate, assume and try to estimate a probability but we will never know.
The implication that the calculations are simple "high school" physics to back calculate when an item must have been detached from an aircraft to have ended up at a certain point on the ground is plain wrong. At an accurately known height, with accurately known winds and in full possesion of the characteristics of the dropped object there is enormous room for error ("dumb" bombs dropped during the second war were often hundreds of yards and even miles from the aiming point).
If (and that is a big IF) an engine became detached, an object as complex in shape as an engine (with potentially some residual thrust) falling from an aircraft flying at uncertain speed, at uncertain height in an unknown attitude would make any "calculation" no more valid than a guess.
I appreciate that you are trying to discover the most likely sequence of events on that terrible day and I am sure that those who know will answer your aviation questions as honestly as they can, but I fear that you are on a futile mission because of the lack of good data. (Either because it is not available to anyone, or only available to a restricted few).