There are some more good quality photos to look at now like these...
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviatio.../2/1489234.jpg
Photos: Boeing 737-8F2 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
With a view now of both engines it can be seen that neither first stage fan shows evidence of radial distortion indicating very low/no rotation at impact. In fact one of the fans looks in such good condition that it may actually have been at rest at impact.
Several hypotheses have been expounded about the probable cause.....
- Birdstrike ? Serious bird damage tends to come in two varieties, big flocks of small ones (Ryanair CIA) or small/medium flocks of large ones (those damn Canadians!). There is absolutely no evidence of mass bird impact on any of the forward surfaces, nor any isolated damage by larger birds to the first stage fans of either engine. Simultaneous engine loss caused by birdstrike would not seem to be on the agenda.
- Inadvertent stall by loss of SA (subtle A/T loss or whatever) ? The first reaction of any pilot to a stall warning, (stick shaker in the 737), is to apply TOGA power. Whilst the 737 is an absolute pig to recover in the approach config due to the trim change and drag, the initial reaction is always the same - apply TOGA power. These engines did not impact with TOGA power applied.
- Mishandling of SEF on finals? This is not an easy exercise on the 737 and involves continuing down the glide whilst increasing power and selecting a lower flap setting, when a safe speed is reached you decide whether to continue to land or go around. If this situation was mishandled the subsequent evidence would reveal TOGA power on the live engine at impact. It is also highly improbable that a mishandled SEF would result in a ground impact with the aircraft wings level.
I am at a loss to imagine a situation that the crew would not share with ATC, that evidences a stalled impact on short finals with both engines at very low/no N1. The crew clearly experienced a total power loss below 1000' which they were unable to translate into a successful off-field landing. I wonder whether both engines were running prior to 1000' or perhaps one had already been lost, the other failing around 600-800'.
Fuel exhaustion or starvation is now looking much more probable.
For the record.... I have an extreme distrust of any airline management that is capable of reporting 'No Casualties' from the comfort of their Turkish Office only minutes after an aircraft accident a thousand miles away. Furthermore, to then announce later that the technical records held at base bear witness to a perfectly serviceable accident aircraft takes a moron of extreme proportions.
Am I the only one to conclude that Turkish Airlines have an corporate safety culture that would be more at home in the depths of Africa?