[Smogger]

I thought catastrophic engine failure too until I saw the tail. Looks like bomb in the tail or mechanical sabotage.

Out here is Southern Cali on KFI 640 talk they have an "aviation expert" and he said the entire thing is troubling (read not possible under known scenarios). Espesically, the part about the tail rudder being left on the runway (read bomb). He said he did not now of a scenario that would do the type of damage that occurred including catastrophic engine failure.

[MistyCA]

The rudder was left on the runway? That would not say bomb to me because bomb would cause more destruction to the tail section, imo. However it says a lot about the potential for sabotage. It also brings to mind the possibility of metal fatigue (bolts broke?). The plane would not be controllable (I would think) without the rudder, but that certainly does not explain the loss of an engine and subsequent events. It would not explain the shearing off of the stabilizer. There is something else at play here. The idea that a wing flew off and hit the stabilizer doesn't fit either because I would think that under that scenario there would have been more damage to the stabilizer. And a bomb? That doesn't make sense to me either. The only thing that really makes sense to me is that the bolts were tampered with. But then...I know nothing about planes :(

[bootless]

The vertical stabilizer looks pristine in the photos. If the rudder was still on the runway, and the rest of the tail was undamaged, that *doesn't* say bomb to me. It says mechanical screwup. I don't know the mechanism of how the rudder is attached to the rest of the vertical stab, but someone either screwed up bigtime, or there is a mole in the MX crew.