Asiana flight crash at San Francisco

[DWS]

RE HITTING WATER WITH TAIL PER VIDEO

I am not a pilot- and do not play one on TV. But I am a retired BA engineer who worked on 777 until shortly after first flight

Looking at the cnn video - and living in seattle area, the white cloud just before the hit looks more like a hydroplane roostertail of the good ole days. (** addition - IF the 777 had a tail skid that dropped with the gear, it would make a great roostertail ** )
IMHO that would explain the nose high- landing gear hitting on ground just after tail hits water, and the section aft of the pressure bulkhead being torn off by the seawall/rocks- along with some reports of debris in the water.

One photo of the landing gear shows the main landing gear beam still attached- further supporting gear slightly higher than seawall at time of impact of tail section.

I note that the break of the upper fuselage aft section on top does not appear to be at the normal production join of the aft pressure bulkhead, ((** correction most of the break of the tail cone/rudder DID occur at the production joint- and the junction of the rudder/vertical stabilizer and the fuselage may account for the tear **) to fuselage but a tear extending a few feet forward of the join between fuselage and the bulkead. The vertical split in the " middle " of the bulkhead ***may** indicate some significant sideways impact with the plane crabbing to the left.

All told, the impact loads well above ' hard landings" with most " all ?? " of the floor intact is but one indication of the amazing structural integrity of the 777 floor.

I'm sure there will be many lessons learned as to failure modes of structure.