@
andrasz
One other note- that supports your theory on how it failed: If you look very carefully at the video when it is zoomed in on the topmost section of the failed bulkhead there are two fairly small outwardly bent or flared sections. They appear to be just a couple of inches (5cm) in size and do not appear to have been caused as a part of the failure as they appear to be under the lapped joint that failed. I have thought about them a great deal but have yet to come up with a plausible explanation for what caused them. (They are too small and abrupt to have been caused by the airflow itself, and they would have been protected from a direct hit until the entire tail came off.)
I'm totally making stuff up now, but if that were the point of failure it would explain the zippered tension failure down both sides- the rotation downward of the tail, and the subsequent breakup. If the rotation occurred quickly enough it could also (just maybe) explain the immediate cutout of the CVR- which we are only taking at face value right now as none of us has heard the recording...
But I have a problem with the pressure hull failing like that in that place- it seems incredibly unlikely- as does a catastrophic failure of the jackscrew assembly or the hinge point on the HS.
Bottom line is we don't have enough data to say with any certainty what the sequence of failure was- which sucks because I hate puzzles I cannot solve!! (But what we do see and know still argues pretty forcefully for a structural failure over a bomb...)
Regards,
dce