Weather situation looked challenging and will probably be found to be major contributor. Cold front with sharp wind shift reported at both Houston-Pearland and Galveston around time of incident. Above this low-level wind shift, strong low level jet from SW. Likely some severe turbulence and erratic winds in vicinity of sharp right turn made when left turn denied. Reports of "good weather" in area also credible as these conditions confined to immediate vicinity of the cold front and radar echoes. A few miles either side partly cloudy and warm, not overly windy at surface. Could even be a lightning strike on the fuselage contributing to this unfortunate outcome.

I distinctly hear the sound of the word "Pull" from the GPWS system, and I think I hear the stick shaker going off too at 2:33 of the video

I took the snippet and slowed it down quite a bit, and repeated the bits. I have also separated the "OK" from the noise that proceeds it. You can clearly hear the lack of background noise on the OK portion, and then what sounds to me like the gpws "PULL" sound and maybe the stick shaker??!!

Same here, I put the Bose noise cancelling headset on and turned them right up. You can here "pull' very faintly in the background instantly after the crew member says "OK". Could well be from an EGPWS.

I dont hear GPWS also the link arrival there is no way at that point he would be low enough for a GPWS right after he was calmly discussing going east or west with ATC.

Did anyone consider an explosion howsoever caused.

I didn't think birds could fly that high but apparently some can all the way up to normal cruising altitude for a commercial jet.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...flight_heights

Although personally I still feel this aircraft's age may have more to do with the sudden failure in question. I wonder if anyone has yet discovered the number of hours or cycles it had flown and/or any details of any previous accident damage repairs undertaken?

Yes, its already on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Air_Flight_3591

Edit: Not sure if this has been discussed/eliminated as a potential issue: Wikipedia and https://www.federalregister.gov/docu...pany-airplanes

what "clacker", it has an aural alarm..very distinctive

I guess I went too far and gave the wrong wording. I ment to say something flight control issues. Apologies out there.
At 6000' cabin pressure is no longer an issue.

Can hear something in the background of the "OK" transmission, it sounds like an automated voice, it does sound like PULL but it could just be a bit of confirmation bias

As usual on the first day following a major crash, the speculation outruns the factual information. There are several more possible failure scenarios not yet mentioned here which could have caused this apparent loss of control. I thought of quite a few myself in the first moments after reading the first couple of news reports. But I see little point in sharing them until there's at least some factual basis, however small, upon which to build theories as to the sequence of events which led to this crash.

I'm not satisfied to simply "wait for the report" either. However these things often take a little time to develop into the basis for informed speculation. When time-synced, the ATC radar and com recordings will provide some early clues. Examination of recovered wreckage may also reveal investigative paths to be further pursued. Finding the CVR and FDR is going to be a high priority in the early stages for obvious reasons.Finding them In the mud beneath 5 feet of water may present some challenges, but it's been done before. (in the Everglades at least twice that I know of)

So fear not, in due course enough facts will emerge to facilitate informed speculation. Until then I have no basis to eliminate either any of my own or anyone else's pet theories. This is a normal circumstance.

Boeing have built aircraft for a couple of years now, so I expect they have a clue on how long they last before problems set in.

I expect and the manufacturer that the "average" flight of a B767 to be much greater than 2 hours. So if the manufacture says 50,000 cycles (flights) is the limit, then we are talking way over 100,000 flight hours. But they are not concerned on hours - why are you?

Report from KHOU including eyewitness reports. They say the plane was low and then nosedived. The area where it crashed is shallow and muddy, with police working to ensure nothing is moved before the NTSB arrives today.

It is on the subtitles but all I hear is OK

The FR24 data, as usual, contains numerous artifacts and synchronisation issues.

That said, once cleaned up it appears to show a slight but unmistakeable climb interrupting the descent just before reaching 6000', starting about 10 seconds before the beginning of the final dive.

It's exaggerated, obviously, in this foreshortened view (apologies for the skewed verticals):

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....acd45a5f99.jpg

That restriction no longer applies.

First fatal loss of a B767 on US soil since the 2001 NY events and worldwide since 2002.

Very lucky it didn't hit a mile out from the bay where the town is. RIP to the lost souls on board.

I did warn that the previous plot was foreshortened ...

Here it is in profile:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....233159755e.jpg

Does that help ?