HPBleed: Although it made little to no difference as the high sink rate in the last milliseconds ripped the rear fuselage which allowed water to ingress at the rear.
Lyman: Sure? The tail was badly damaged, I am not sure the metal was broken open, and I am pretty sure the hull was intact, eg, the aft bulkhead was not holed.
The rear fuselage was significantly damaged as shown in the "
Structures 7F Addendum. The NTSB Report is at:
http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2010/aar1003.pdf
At the site where the Structures document is found, the entire Docket can be accessed for further reading.
PJ2