Originally Posted by
Stabilo31
Fuselage and tail are 1,5nm apart, this is quite considerable distance. AF447 debris field is about 600mx300m (deph 3900m).
The ocean currents in AFR447 were negligible in the doldrums under the ITCZ and the wreckage was a lot deeper falling to the ocean floor at 13,000ft. The currents in the Java Sea in comparison are very strong running at up to 6kts in a shallow sea with a silty bottom. (The divers were clinging onto ropes and 'flying like superman' to quote one report.) So let's assume a light piece of aircraft wreckage slowly sinks then gets pushed along the bottom till it sticks in a way that the current no longer moves it how long would that take 20 minutes or 30 minutes? 1.5 nm
is only 15 minutes at 6kts. After 2 weeks if the currents were always in the same direction (which they aren't) in theory wreckage that is bowled along the sea floor or floats with some drag in the water could travel well over a thousand miles with a 6kt current.
When AFR447 fin was found floating on the surface and the wreckage of the aircraft was not immediately beneath it, the same claims were made in the AFR447 thread that the reason for the crash was the fin detaching as with the New York A300. It wasn't.