eswdev wrote: "Is it possible that the cloud was jet fuel escaping and atomizing, and that this early dump of the remaining fuel was an enormous stroke of luck? There was much less fire than I would have expected when the plane stopped."
Not a chance they were deliberately dumping fuel. They didn't even call for more speed until 7 seconds prior to impact, and the call for a GA happened less than 2 seconds prior to impact. And obviously they could not have jettisoned enough fuel ti a few seconds to make a difference!