[Barry Goldwater]

How can a bird strike knock off wings, engines etc? I don't think it was a birdstrike.

[eno_]

It would explain why both engines were not attached when it hit the ground. So would debris on the runway being ingested into the engines. But so would sabotage. Engines do explode, but they don't take off wings, vertical stabilizers, etc. The cowlings are designed to minimize damage.

I was on a plane that ingested a bird. No damage to the engine, and it was a smaller (BAE) commuter jet. What was wierd is that the cabin filled with a smell like chicken fried in motor oil. I guess the cabin pressurization pumps run off the engines and the intakes are close enough to pick up that smell.

[FReepaholic]

>>...How can a bird strike knock off wings, engines etc? ...<<

At one time I did high-speed photography of engine tests at GE. During a bird-ingestion that engine will shake, rattle and roll.

In my short tenure at GE, I never saw an enging come apart as a result of a bird ingestion (but that don't mean they won't).

I can envision the engine on the AA plane bouncing and jerking after ingesting a bird or birds and coming off because of a structural problem with the pylon or wing.

[Ditto]

How can a bird strike knock off wings, engines etc? I don't think it was a birdstrike.

Actually, quite easily. A large bird like a Canadian goose being sucked into an engine traveling at 300 MPH can and has caused catostrophic damage in the past. It is a major risk and one of the reasons that airports use measures to keep birds away from the runways.

This being the fall, a flock of geese or other migratory birds could well have crossed the path of that flight.

[bootless]

A bird can't knock off a wing, but ingestion of a bunch of birds can rip the hell out of an engine.