Lost in translation?
According to CNN, "They have not found any clothing, he [air accident investigator Alain Bouillard] said, but was unable to say why."
BBC writes: "The French investigation appears to contradict earlier reports attributed to Brazilian pathologists. They said last month that the injuries sustained by the passengers whose bodies had been found suggested the plane had been in pieces before it hit the sea.
Mr Bouillard said France had not yet been given access to those autopsy reports."
The main characteristic that caught my eye with the Brazilian reports was that bodies were found "without any clothing", or "minimal clothing". (no link here, sorry) I'd posted before that it takes more than terminal velocity to strip people of their clothes - witness sky divers. I had concluded that the only way bodies could get stripped off their clothing is by getting ejected into air traveling at much higher speeds, e.g. Mach .8 or such. Which suggested that the plane did indeed break up at high speed and high altitude(?).
However, high speed and low altitude (ocean level) breakup of an AC could have the same result. This would require bodies getting ejected upward from the AC even as they had traveled downward (vertical component) at a high speed. Only some sort of rebound effect could explain that.
Or, is the phrase "without clothing" meant just like CNN reported, that there was no clothing (apart from bodies) found. Which, however, ALSO seems ambiguous. Does anyone have any better insight into this?
The BEA report does sound very convincing - I am trying to figure out how to account for other evidence within the context of that report. It sure would be helpful if the relevant agencies could get their acts together.