This thread is about to get shut down. Far too many indications of enthusiasts debating the scenarios whilst showing a severe lack of even basic physics understanding.
If you don't understand the concept of kinetic energy then please leave this debate alone. Those that fail to grasp even the rudimentary idea that a collision, whether it was just a winglet striking another part of a bigger aircraft or whatever, involves tremendous forces. It's not Hollywood fantasy.
Perhaps the easiest example is why can a bullet that weighs only a few grammes pass through sheet metal? Precisely why a winglet or any other part of an aircraft striking another aircraft, especially head on can do tremendous damage even if only the winglet or a small part of the empennage is what you see in the photos.
So, please, if you're going to speculate at least do a bit of basic study before making me and no doubt many others cringe with embarrassment before posting such ill informed comments or conclusions. It was a requirement that you at least had some basic grounding in physics before you could get your ATPL licence and too many posts on here are showing up the posters as obviously not having those basic requirements yet feel they can take part in the debate. Well, no thank you. I may still have to restrict this forum and threads such as this to those with the qualifications to at least hold a professional licence.
