And yet if it hadn't been found floating by itself, but attached to additional wreckage, shearing off could be eliminated. Eliminating possibilities is one way to distill a solution. Eliminating possibilities that present themselves and cannot be reasonably eliminated means a closed opportunity that could be pursued. The most open-minded scientists I know are Pathologists. Claiming someone's opinions are not useful without the evidence to claim it falls likewise into the realm of rumor, Speculation, and other hindrances.
587. a/s less than 250 knots. Encounters wake turbulence. Three yaw cycles later the VS/Rudder leave the airframe. Falling 2,000 feet, both engines are slung off the wings before one spin is completed. Without engines and tail feathers, this 300 series Airbus has accomplished in fifteen seconds what 447 was given four minutes to do, from seven miles up starting with an airspeed twice that of 587.
"The aircraft impacted the water intact". Could happen.
bear