[ValerieUSA]

If a terrorist had told the pilot he had a bomb on board, the pilot would be smart to covertly dump fuel - that would explain the action without communication to the tower about what was happening.

[TheRealLobo]

You said:"If a terrorist had told the pilot he had a bomb on board, the pilot would be smart to covertly dump fuel - that would explain the action without communication to the tower about what was happening."

If a terrorist told a pilot he had a bomb on board, the pilot would likely NOT take the plane over a populated area, PARTICULARLY in light of 9/11/01. Personally, a terrorist would have to kill me and take over the controls himself to get it over a populated area. I suspect most pilots would feel the same way. Oftentimes, when you hear about a plane crash that could have killed more people on the ground, the pilot did his/her best to get it away from populated areas.

[LTCJ]

the pilot would be smart to covertly dump fuel - that would explain the action without communication to the tower about what was happening.

Not nearly enough time. If large amounts of fuel are in the bay, given the speed and distance, it had to have come from a massive breach.