Originally Posted by
westernhero
That NYtimes article down at the bottom quotes an eye witness that saw someone jump out of the aircraft and parachute to the ground.
A couple of stories (
Marine Times, CBS) mention an
empty parachute (or something similar - life raft as per FOG's post?) floating down.
Several reports mention a series of rolling low-intensity booms (like thunder) before seeing the aircraft spinning down.
One early report mentioned the cockpit section being found far from the main airframe wreckage - haven't seen that mentioned elsewhere, though.