Agreed glueball... that picture is pretty worrying, possibly the most telling I've seen so far today. I can't see any trace of impact, tearing, or twisting... the tail looks almost as if it had just been unbolted. Loss of stabilizer -> total loss of control -> overstress -> breakup maybe? I can't conceive of any other scenario that would leave the tail so far from the main impact, apparently cleanly removed, with no obvious sign of damage.
Hopefully we'll know pretty quickly, whatever it was it must have been an impossible situation for the crew... RIP folks.
[ 13 November 2001: Message edited by: Ranger One ]