[John H K]

And let me say to anyone who wants to start in about the "inherent unreliability of eyewitness testimony"---just think about what might happen if you're ever a victim of a crime, and the only evidence to prosecute the perpetrator is your eyewitness testimony and that of a cop's. Puts things in a different perspective perhaps...

Eyewitness testimony is better than none at all, but I'm familiar with the scientific tests and demonstrations where it's revealed to be ridiculously unreliable. Have you ever seen any of them?

[_Jim]

I'm given to believe that the engines coming loose due to loss of tail and imposing high lateral stresses then caused what observers described as 'explosions' as the engines ripped off ... with fuel lines ripped and various power cables being severed/shorted out providing the source of ignition ...

[Map Kernow]

Eyewitness testimony is better than none at all, but I'm familiar with the scientific tests and demonstrations where it's revealed to be ridiculously unreliable. Have you ever seen any of them?

Yes, I am. A lot of them are funded by defense counsel. I don't happen to believe that eyewitness testimony is inherently "ridiculously unreliable." We might as well chuck out our whole system of criminal justice if anyone really believed that.

Why don't you discuss what the witnesses saw, instead of pontificating about eyewitness testimony?

[_Jim]

What kind of odd forces would the engine mounts see, say, when the engines in question here are 1) fully spooled-up and 2) the tail is lost and 3) the craft begins to yaw about it's axis kind of wildly?

What kind of forces (in unusual directions) are on seen on those engine mounts due to gyroscopic precession?