When you look at historical examples of wake turbulence and of delamination (each independently), it's not too difficult to see how the application of wake turbulence forces on a delaminating surface could have disastrous consequences.
A quick disclaimer: I'm not posting this to speculate on the actual cause of the AA587 crash. Just showing how delamination can combine with other forces to result in severe structural damage.
Delamination may remain undetected until a certain amount of higher-than-normal force is applied to the faulty part. That force may well be within design limits, but it might be just enough to trigger the delamination to a destructive level.
Here's an example. It's only a single example, but it clearly illustrates the effects of force on a delaminating structural component:
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In the mid 1980s, delamination on a slab (all-moving horizontal tailplane) of a T-38 went undetected for an undetermined amount of time, partly because the aircraft had no history of problems and had flown just fine during its recent flights (low-g flights, such as instrument/nav or very basic formation flights). Then, a solo student took the aircraft up for some aerobatic training, but quickly returned to base, saying that when he was beginning a loop, things didn't feel right approaching the 5-G point (well inside the G-limits of the T-38). There were vibrations and sounds that didn't seem correct to him. Initial maintenance inspections found no problems, but since it was a perceived flight control problem, a Functional Check Flight Pilot was then scheduled to fly it for a check-out.
During the FCF flight, the aircraft performed normally as the pilot took it through some mild 2- to 4-G maneuvers. Then the FCF pilot began a 5-G loop. The aircraft immediately made a very loud "bang" type of noise and became uncontrollable. The FCF pilot (despite being strapped in tightly) was pushed up into the upper part of the cockpit, against the canopy. Fortunately, he was able to regain control and call for a chase ship to inspect him.
When the chase ship joined up, everything looked fine on the left side. But on the right side, the slab was pretty much gone, ripped away. Only a small spar (about a foot long, and a few inches wide) stuck out where the entire right slab should have been.
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So, it's entirely possible that IF delamination exists, and IF an aircraft encounters a high enough trigger force (within "normal limits", but higher than "normally encountered" forces) to the delaminating component, then yes, the component may fail and depart the aircraft.
[ 18 November 2001: Message edited by: McD ]