"That would reinforce the idea that the plane broke up in flight," he said. "If it hits intact, everything shatters in tiny pieces."
A quote on the
Telegraph by William Waldock, who teaches air crash investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.
I was interested in the assertion itself because the VS from the XL A320 (repainted in NZ livery) at the Perpignan incident was pretty intact although the aircraft hit intact.