My Question : The passengers would have been issued with seat numbers. Would Air France retain this information, and assuming that most people would be seated on a night flight, would this help to identify where the plane broke apart? (I.e. Near the wings as suggested , or at the VS)
SLEJB,
In both AI182 and TW800, the recovered bodies of passengers were matched with seat assignments, as well as the results of the post-mortem autopsies. The information can be quite helpful in determining the cause or sequence of a mid-air break-up. Even if bodies aren;'t recovered, that can be telling. For example, in TW800, bodies were never recovered for several rows of passengers seated directly above the center tank.