From the Air India 182 investigation report:
The [floating]wreckage consisted mainly of various leading edge skin panels of the left and right wings, left wing tip, spoilers, leading edge and trailing edge flaps, engine cowlings, flap track canoe fairing pieces, landing gear wheel well doors, pieces of elevator and aileron, cabin floor panels, cabin overhead and upper deck bins, passenger seats, life vests, slide rafts, hand baggage, suitcases, personal effects and a number of internal fittings. The floating wreckage constitutes about three to five percent of the aircraft structure.
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The wreckage was then transported from Ireland to Bombay, India where it underwent further examination by the Floating Wreckage Structures Group which then produced a report which was submitted to the Indian Inquiry. The report concluded:
- There was no evidence of fire damage.
- There was no evidence of lightning strike damage.
- The cabin floor panels from the forward and rear sections of the aircraft separated from the support structure in an upward direction (floor to ceiling) pulling free from the attaching screws and, in some cases, breaking the vertical web of the seat track/floor beams.
- The position of the leading edge flap rotary actuator and the damage to the flap structure indicated that the leading edge flaps were in the retracted position.
- The six spoiler actuators found were in the retracted position. The lower surface of all the spoiler panels showed signs of spanwise skin splits with the edges curled into the core of the honeycomb. The report concluded that this was possibly due to the loading of the spoilers by being deployed in flight at high speed, resulting in compression on the lower surfaces. This, in turn, caused splitting of the lower skin into the honeycomb.
- The right wing root leading edge, number 3 engine inboard fan cowling, the right inboard midflap inboard leading edge, and the right stabilizer root leading edge all exhibited damage possibly due to objects striking the right wing and stabilizer before water impact.
In addition to the above conclusions, the following significant information regarding the floating wreckage is noted in the report:
- The aircraft was carrying a -7Q engine at the 5th pod and a -7J 5th pod kit in the aft cargo compartment. In all there were 14 engine fan cowls (four in the aft cargo compartment). Out of these 14 fan cowls, nine, including six from the working engines and three from the aft cargo compartment, and two additional pieces of fan cowls were found. Five of the fan cowls from the working engines showed folding damage lines at about the three and nine o'clock positions. The number 3 engine inboard fan cowl had severe impact damage on its leading edge and had small outward puncture holes but no penetration through the outer skin in the lower centre region. The two fan cowls of the -7J 5th pod kit stowed in the aft cargo compartment showed severe damage. One piece was cut at one corner in an arc of about 20 inches diameter and its external skin was peeled back.
- The cockpit entry door and the side bulkhead panel were found relatively intact but had come out of their attachments.
- Twelve toilet doors out of 16 were found and were relatively intact but had come out of their attachments.
- Cabin interior panels and overhead bins of the main and upper decks which were recovered exhibited only minor damage.
- The wooden boxes which contained the fan blades of the 5th pod engine were loaded in container 24L in the forward cargo compartment and were found broken apart exhibiting no burn marks.
- One passenger oxygen bottle and one portable oxygen bottle were recovered and showed no sign of damage.
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- Two pieces of the cover of an overhead locker originating above either door 2R or 4R were also found on the foreshore [of Wales]. They were partially damaged and blackened by fire. Mr. Clancy [an explosives expert] concluded that this indicated the presence of fire.
The CASB in its examination of the floating wreckage noted the following:
- The fan cowls of the number 4 engine had a series of five marks in a vertical line across the centre of the Air India logo on the inboard facing side of the fan cowl. These marks had the characteristic airfoil shape of a turbine blade tip. It is possible that a portion of the turbine parted from the number 3 engine and struck the cowl of the number 4 engine.
- The upper deck storage cabinet which was located on the left side had unusual damage to its bottom. A large rounded dent in the bottom inboard edge of this stiff cabinet structure revealed smooth stretching without breakthrough. The damage did not seem to be achievable by inertia or impact forces as the cabinet except for the bottom was undamaged. The damage was considered by a CASB investigator to be compatible with the spherical front of an explosive shock wave generated below the cabin floor and inboard from the cabinet; however, it is not known if this damage could be caused by some other means.
- The right wing root fillet which faired the leading edge of the wing to the fuselage ahead of the front spar had a vertical dent similar to that which would have resulted had the fillet run into a soft cylindrical object with significant relative velocity. The paint on the inboard chord appeared to be scorched brown in the centre areas of three honeycomb panels. It has been determined that sudden heat can turn these panels brown, but it is not known if other reasons for the discolouration exist. The fillet abutted the fuselage side at the aft end of the forward cargo compartment.
Would seem a greater variety of wreckage recovered from AI182 than from AF447, and more helpful to the investigators with respect to the sequence.