Bearfoil
On mm43's excellent "debris" graphic, isn't the Vertical Stabiliser/Rudder shown at the "Start" of the field? The Spoiler well "past" it?
The Vertical Stabilizer was recovered from 3°36.7N 30°37.1W at around 1400z on 7 June 2009. The position has been extracted from graphics data published by the BEA. The following graphic shows my backtrack from there using Oscar/NOAA satellite smoothed current data and Quikscat satellite surface (+10m) wind data to a possible impact position of 3°12.3'N 30°54.1W at 20090601-0230z. The V/S was found floating on its port side with a small sail of torn off empennage skin attached at the forward end.
The relative position of the V/S to a body found on 6 June and another 5 found on 7 June 2009 is shown below. The calculated position for the V/S after the leeway vector has been removed is also shown. My considered opinion is that though the bodies in general suffered some windage, it wasn't evident immediately as they initially sunk to an equilibrium depth and slowly surfaced. Another reason why they were not located sooner.
The Port Outer Spoiler was found NxE of TASIL 6 days later and recovered from 04°42.1'N 029°55.6'W at 20090613-1321UTC. The assumed reason for it being north and east of most other recovered debris was that it floated flush with the surface and was well anchored in the water by the attached framing on its underside. Leeway due to surface wind has not been an issue with it.
The presumed location of this accident was effectively at the center of the doldrums and the surface currents were flowing slowly NE and turning left near 3°30N and increasing in velocity from that point. The spoiler appears to have missed the turn and like some other debris continued on towards and past TASIL to join the North Atlantic Equatorial Counter Current.
mm43