***At 500 knots the surface of the ocean will play the part of the wall quite nicely.
I still don’t buy it. ***
!00% true. I saw the remains of a Navy fighter that hit the water at 400+ knots. With the exception of several slightly larger pieces, there wasn’t a piece that wouldn’t easily fit in a lunch box, most would fit in a cellphone case.
This was a fighter, built much tougher than an airliner.
A vertical dive from altitude into water will shatter the aircraft into tiny pieces, including everything inside.
What would happen to the black box in a crash like that???
Funny how people can’t accept simple physics. Golden Gate jumpers even know this - water has the same density as concrete at high speed. Considering terminal velocity is not even reached on that jump, it does not have to be even much greater than 100 mph to do real damage.