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Old 23rd Jun 2009, 05:35
  #2167 (permalink)  
Passenger 389
 
Join Date: May 2008
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Re: debate on whether the aircraft may have been mostly intact until it reached the water (e.g., a low-speed controlled ditching, or "flat" spin).

Given estimated fuel aboard, and implied assumption that structural integrity was maintained until impact but almost certainly not beyond, what is the likelihood of a post-impact fire in that circumstance?

If the probability is high, then does the (reported) absence of charring on recovered debris or bodies tend to exclude a controlled ditching or similar hypothesis, and suggest structural integrity was lost prior to impact with the water? Or would debris and bodies initally sink (and have been protected from any fire), surfacing only later?
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