concorde
NW1,
Thanks for your post - two or three things if I may.
The tail cone jettison pipe is designed for exactly that and works well. But no one could or should design for a chunk of metal to cause a large leak in a wing fuel tank - far forward of the cone. If the afterburner was not the source of ignition, what was? An electrical short? Friction? Far more likely a two foot flame.
Secondly, you talk of minor leaks. I though the NY incident was very major.
Thirdly, you say of Gonesse that "the mechanism leading to the tank rupture was not penetration by debris". Don't understand that.
Lastly, you say of Gonesse that "this a/c fuel tanks were not penetrated by anything from outside". Please explain.