The Flaperon

I was listening to what Miles O'brien on CNN TV was saying after talking to aeronautical engineers regarding the damage to the flaperon. The engineers had told him that the front edge isn't damaged really at all. But, the trailing edge would be the type of damage from the plane in a dive going straight down into the ocean at some point.

So, this is what I think happened possibly. The plane was directed to fly through a storm (something that wouldn't be allowed here in the U.S.). The plane exceeded altitude because of extreme updrafts inside the storm which were noted by Meteorologists all over the world past 40,000 feet possibly to 45,000 feet which would cause the fuselage to rupture at it's weakest point (wherever that was). note: No passenger plane (that I know of) is designed for above 40,000 feet altitude. Above that there likely would be a fuselage rupture with air going out along with all heat. end note. Instantly (at that altitude) everyone would be dead because of the cold and almost zero air pressure at that altitude. So, maybe the crew flying was quick enough to put on oxygen masks but not the people in the main cabin. So, basically these people would die within 30 seconds to 1 minutes with no air at all to breathe. Also, the air pressure might be so low and the temperature so far below zero that even the crew would get frostbite almost immediately at this altitude and shortly after die. So, even if the crew was alive the passengers were all dead at this point mercifully.

The pilot and co-pilot likely succumbed to either no oxygen or hypothermia which has hallucinations before you die. The plane likely put on autopilot as an emergency response by the pilot or co-pilot went on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and then dove straight into the water with everyone already dead on board for hours. This likely could be how the flaperon then was damaged in this likely 1000 mile per hour drive straight into the ocean. The autopilot wouldn't be able to do much once there was no fuel and might even add to the force of the dive in it's emergency responses. (Unless a plane has engines on) it falls like a rock out of the sky without a pilot to put it in a proper glide path for landing on the ocean like Sullenberger did perfectly after a bird strike that knocked out his engines on his passenger jet.

In fact, in such a dive the flaperon could have separated from the wing and plane in such a dive. After separating it would come to earth more like a feather in the air than the plane which at this speed would completely obliterate the plane sort of like running into the alps. If you ever looked at what that plane did when it hit the alps there was nothing left of it much recognizable. When you hit the ocean at 1000 plus miles per hour, at that speed it is like hitting cement or a mountain. So, likely there would be nothing left of it basically, possibly except maybe the flight recorders. This would be why no other parts of the plane have been found so far and explain a lot. However, my theory though possibly true I don't see how any theory including mine could be proved one way or another in the end. However, this jives with the damage on the back end of the flaperon.

Later Note: The same day I was listening to Anderson Cooper on CNN and Miles Obrien was also on this show too. However, a Boeing engineer brought up another point. Most of the time, (except during landings) this Flaperon is tucked inside the wing surface. So, the only thing exposed most of the time is the trailing edge which was damaged either by falling straight down into the ocean or nearly straight down into the ocean at supersonic speeds or from an impact into the ocean.

My thought is that it more likely came off the aircraft before it crashed because if it was going supersonic straight down most of the plane is going to be obliterated like it hit a mountain or just cement. If you have ever seen pictures of what a passenger jet looks like after hitting a mountain (which is what it is like hitting the ocean fast enough) unless you are gliding in a glide pattern and hitting the ocean slowly at close to landing speeds with the wheels up.

So, imagine the fuel ran out, the autopilot is still on and everyone is dead on board with the autopilot fighting dead engines. I think the thing would fall like a rock and nothing much would be left of it.

***Unless the autopilot was programmed for a glide path and a soft landing on the ocean which I think hasn't be programmed into autopilots (YET). But might be after this crash. But, if they can do this sort of thing for military drones they likely could modify it for passenger planes too at some point. (likely after they do it for all U.S. military planes first.)

The only problem with this kind of technology is it also could be used to turn literally any plane into a drone which might be a problem too in both the short and long run.