[Fitzcarraldo]

Perhaps, if the pilot and co-pilot were incapacitated, someone else at the controls tried to bring the plane to a lower altitude, and miscalculated. The stress of the dive might have caused the plane to break up in midair, with enough fuel to cause the fires on the ground.

Did the F16 pilots observe the crash and events leading up to it?

[LikeLight]

I'm wondering why no video or cellphone pics of the plane before the crash have surfaced . . . it was apparently skimming pretty low over some towns before impact, accompanied by 2 F-16's . . . it must have been quite a sight and making a heck of a lot of noise . . . someone should have snapped a pic or rolled a video camera . . .