Initial autopsy reports being leaked to the press appear to verify the A 330 broke up in mid flight at high speed. Some readers may find the details unpleasant so I will put them on page two.
The bodies recovered so far point to a high speed, in-flight break up of Air France 447. Below are the findings leaked out thus far:
-The bodies were intact with flail injuries.
-The bodies were unclothed.
-There were no burns present.
-There was no water in the lungs.
-There were two groups of bodies found 50 miles apart.
Tactical aviators are familiar with flail injuries. They are associated with ejecting (from a doomed aircraft) at high speed into the airstream. The high-speed air fractures extremities and tears away clothing. Had the aircraft burned or exploded, there would have been burn marks and smoke in the lungs; there were neither. Had the aircraft ditched and sank, water would have been present in the lungs; thus far, there is none. Most telling is that the two groups were 50 miles apart, and the bodies were intact. Had it impacted at a high rate of speed, neither would be the case.
A very sad tragedy; now the investigators must find out why.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Chip,
Thought you’d find these two articles of interest.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124605948270463623.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124607165106964441.html
June 29th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Rick;
Yes they are interesting. I’m doing some research on this and will have an article in the AM. I still think there is another aspect, another data point to the AF 447 incident. QF-74′s hard overs still IMO are a tell tale sign.