Food for thought
Food for thought
We still have no confirmation of explosive use. Could a bomb really have caused the selective damage we are seeing?
One of the earliest declarations from the authorities said the accident was caused by an external source.
A bomb in the aft cargo hold may have caused the disintegration of the aft fuselage but why would it have forced out the HS taking the rudder with it, and cleanly ejecting the tail cone and APU leaving the rest of the empennage relatively intact. Apparently the ACTs didn't explode since the aft fuselage panel fragments are not burnt. Following the DC10 accident outside Paris on 3 March 1974 when the aft cargo hold door departed causing deformation of the floor panels and seizure of the controls the regulations were changed so that cabin decompression would not cause break-up, even with the loss of a cargo door. Also crack stoppers at the frames reduce disintegration. So unless it was a huge bomb I think it unlikely that the fuselage would have disintegrated. The PanAm 747 was an even older design than the DC10 so was more vulnerable.
A bomb under the HS would have destroyed the FDR and CVR which are located there and they are in pristine (paint) condition.
What could have caused such sideways moment as to:
- distort the forward fuselage in relation to the wing (see the debris pattern)
- cause the disintegration of the rear fuselage
- cause such gyroscopic forces as to break off the cantilevered part of the engine pylons including the front spar attachment fittings with the engines, and cause their break up?
With the wing leaking fuel from the engine fuel supply lines and possibly the pylon attachments could this explain the scorched fuselage panels and engine parts? The burning fuel supply lines would immediately cause a fire around the engine and eventually ignite the spray of fuel or vapor coming from the ruptured tanks?
The second part of the HS to be found had major damage to the outer half. Could whatever caused that damage have caused all the rest???????????,