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Old 20th June 2009 | 17:52
  #2014 (permalink)  
deSitter
 
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 349
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From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Galley section

Yes, that it is intact suggests that the plane was flat-spinning and impacted flat against the ocean at not too great a speed - certainly a nose-in from any significant altitude would have likely rendered any large structure into small pieces - however people have pointed out that it's very difficult if not impossible for a large airliner to flat-spin - this may be otherwise if the VS and/or empennage is missing but the plane is otherwise mostly intact. In that case the large concentration of weight in the engines could provide a sort of gyroscopic stabilization to the spin.

-drl
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