"Stinger won't bring down a 747"
Hit it in the tanks (which means about anywhere in the wings or the fuselage between the wings), and I bet it will.
By bringing it down, I meant something able to stop a 747 dead in it's tracs. My understanding is that whatever happened, happened so suddenly and so catastrophically that the cockpit crew was unable to give any verbal indication as to what may have happened.
I have to believe that a MANPAD hit to a fuel tank would not have created enough damage to not even allow a cockpit voice recording of things to the effect of "What the hell was that?". A second is quite a long time.