Originally Posted by
physicus
@hamster3null Purely from a physics perspective, a pressure wave traveling forward seems unlikely in a simple explosive decompression. I guess we have to define "explosive". I'm talking about a section of fuselage departing for whatever reason. This pops open like a soda can, not a bomb. Your examples all involve an actual explosion: TWA800 fuel tank/missile (whichever story you want to believe), Buk a missile, in either of those cases, the pressure wave is generated by an explosion, not the "explosive" decompression.
If of course there was a bomb on board, the same theory applies and a pressure wave could indeed have travelled front ways far enough to disturb the pressure ports.
My first link models a pressure wave that is caused precisely by removing part of pressurized fuselage. The wave propagates in all directions (since the aircraft is subsonic) and it's actually stronger in the forward direction because it's compressed in that direction.
TWA 800 was not destroyed directly by the fuel tank explosion. The explosion cracked the fuselage, which was then blown apart by the pressure differential between the cabin and the outside air.