[PghBaldy]

I would have thought if it exploded at altitude, the parts would be scattered over miles. Not sure what to think on this one.

[dfwgator]

Botched hijack attempt?

[pfflier]

The visual is small fragments but as one poster pointed out we may be seeing only part of the debris field. The center part of the gulch may be exhibiting scorch marks but that may be the rock texture also.

If there was a high altitude explosion the plane would segment not fragment. You would tend to see large identifiable elements of the plane spread over a large area. Usually the empennage, wings and engines would be identifiable as well as large portions of the fuselage.

The impression I have with what I see is that this may have been a collision. We need to wait and see more pictures.

This may also add some insight as to what happened to Malasian Air over Indonesia. This plane also went off course descended and crashed. The crew did not communicate anything unusual. If the FDR did survive we have clues.

This is also has some similarities to the Air France crash in the Atlantic. You couldn't pay me enough to fly on any Airbus product.

[tcrlaf]

Direct impact at speed.

Aluminum, plastic, and composites, impacting on solid rock at 500 miles an hour, just won’t leave much but small debris.

[Churchillspirit]

Parts of PanAm 103 were found 60 miles away.