[ChasingFletch]

"their desperate but methodical efforts to secure the bomb, the bomber"....

I wonder what, if any, efforts were made on FT. 587.

[patriciaruth]

The elevator/tail section failed after take-off due to age/stress degeneration of the polymer used to mold it, the plastics equivalent of metal fatigue.

I do not know whether the pilot made sudden maneuvers after take-off that precipitated the failure of the tail section. If so, it might have been in response to an attempted hijacking or it might have been a practice maneuver without understanding the consequences. Since then pilots have been warned not to practice maneuvers to throw hijackers off their feet due to the stresses they put on the plane.