That damage looks pretty darn scary and not unlike a Trent 700 uncontained failure a few years back near Miami. That A330 came in on a wing and a swiss cheese...
Gotta love the "no one was hurt BUT 500 people could have been in extreeeeme danger!"
Um, actually, looking at the damage to the wing and where that debris ended up, that might not be too far from the truth... This kind of hardware can do loads of damage with that kind of home-delivery. Reckon some folks down at that island were extremely lucky. As for the aircraft, the wing damage looks scary enough. If this material really went through the fuel tanks, then lucky doesn't come close.
Agreed, the Press have really kicked over several buckets of smelly stuff this morning, starting from a mid air explosion to a crash, one major agency had even found the wreckage before the plane landed!!
Heavens, some of these guys really need to get their act together. Hope those with the quick typing fingers get a nice interview with their editor in chief
and one of those "tea, no bisquits" treatments.