Those pics have been seen, I think. The triangular web "mounts" on the "lid" of the cabin structure indicate a horizontal moment at impact. The direction of failure (roll) of the mounts would indicate a horizontal vector the direction of which could be determined by the structure's installed orientation.
The control surface at the bottom (of the third photo) is the one that engendered the "aileron" vs. "elevator" discussion, I believe. I still think it to be part of the HS, perhaps the "trimmable" Horizontal Stabilizer as mentioned in the Prelim. What ever the case, make note of its conditon; it resembles the damage evidenced in the spoiler. If the vertical accel. was low enough to permit the relatively whole appearance of the Galley structure and was the result of a horizontally expressed aspect, I would emphasize the poor appearance of the HS "part" (or aileron). A low speed pancake would suggest larger more intact pieces of the airframe. I think what the control surface damage suggests is high speed flutter.
Finding parts from "all locations of the a/c" (my paraphrase) reasonably co-located but showing variable damage would argue against "intact at impact." A very robust external piece is virtually destroyed, but an internal structure is reasonably intact indicates to me a prior disintegration of some kind. Finding parts in a small area (if that is the case) merely means the ballistics of all parts of the a/c were aligned vertically after a possible breakup and descent to the Sea's surface.
Will
captainflame I think I understand what you may mean by that.
Last edited by Will Fraser; 8th Jul 2009 at 17:13.