@Barry Plumb on engines
Both engines found with both fans. Each of which has separated.
Remarkable issues:
a. Engines impact - not really possible to have a good look of what is behind the respective LP compressors. As i wrote earlier, you would expect a part to be buried, but the ground appears to be very rocky/hard. So we have to wait for photos... we will probably get answers when they are lifting them lateron.
b. Fan spinner with soot. At first sight no soot or burn marks on the cowlings and the rest. Again remarkably clean. Only thing that i could come up with is that residual (burning) fuel and oil, after impact, could only escape out to the front, but the distance to the engine discounts that, or there must have been a minor explosion blasting the fan away from the engine (which appears unlikely - the other fan has separated too without soot). The rest of the engines appear to show little or no damage by inflight fire or low or high speed fragment damage.
c. One thing that is visible on a number of photos, from seats to very heavy components, is that they appear to have landed, throwing back and forward rocks and sand, and then the components 'bouncing' one to one and a half meters. Something that i have not really seen before. At Lockerbie one of the engines smashed straight through an asphalt surface. And again suggesting a very rocking/hard surface and subsurface. As well as some sort of forward residual speed of these components.
d. Broken fan blades on one of the fans. You would need to have a matching set of photos of the cowling to see if there have been any blade excursions. Planes and engines are of course designed and tested to contain such failures.
As usual in this stage. Part of an answer but also new questions.
Last edited by A0283; 9th Nov 2015 at 16:37.