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Old 30th Aug 2010, 17:49
  #2066 (permalink)  
bearfoil
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No. BEA claims in the initial report a (not sure of the word) minor, small horizontal acceleration, which is an acceptable way of saying "deceleration". Clearly the emphasis is on the vertical, a "pop" off the fuse solely due to horizontal disappearance of forward velocity is not possible given their set-up. They declare a "Compression", followed by a forward flyaway, I'll check this.

What NTSB shows as Shear is actually drag, as I grok it, and can have little to do with forward loss, assuming a centered Rudder and slow forward velocity. Shear turns into a terrifying backwards element with full exposure of the VS "Sides" (alternately) to a 259 knot airstream, (587). The Boeing 737NG and Airbus330 are not dissimilar enough to dismiss a failure cascade of the airframe of 447 mimicing Schiphol. Fully stalled high vertical velocity, Tail slam, middle plant, and cockpit the last to hit, and with the most energy. Occam would suggest that 447 after impact looked reasonably similar to the Boeing, three pieces, but with a tail that stayed attached, ostensibly rather well, at that.

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bear