[Dog Gone]

I hadn't thought about the metal fatigue possibility, but it still seems like that could be ruled out in this case. I mean, an engine might fall off, but the tail would wear out at the exact same time?

I'm still not jumping to any conclusions here, but it seems to me that it looked a lot like an accident yesterday morning and it looks a lot more intentional this afternoon.

I guess there's still a middle ground for some negligence in maintenance that led to this but I think the "burden of proof" just shifted in this case.

[5by5]

If the tail fell off the high speed upset could cause the engines to seperate. In piston aircraft, losing a prop blade can cause the engine to fall off because of the severe inbalance. The pitch up from the loss of the engine can then cause the wings or the tail to break.

My point is that catastrophic failure in one area can lead to more structural failures elsewhere. So it's not necessarily an unlikely coincidence that the tail and the engine all fell off at the same time but rather cause and effect.