Originally Posted by Machinbird
Henra, did you forget the vertical component of velocity? They add vectorially. And as the velocity vector is largely pointed down, drag (which is substantial) helps support much of the weight of the aircraft.
Right.
But, more vertical component means also much less duration (a faster rate of descent). You can't have both. Now, we are facing the opposite: a very long duration (the longuest ever recorded if LOC occured so early) but a very short distance from departure point. This will translate into a lot of horizontal component but in a very tiny airspace. Those figures should be somewhat in the range of what is already known or something very new happened... or is just wrong with the basic assumption.