[maquiladora]

Eyewitness:"I didn't hear an explosion at first when I saw the metal fall. I heard an explosion about a minute and a half later," she said.

The engine came away before the explosion.

[sayfer bullets]

The engine came away before the explosion.

point 1 : One of several eyewitnesses.

point 2 : Light travels just slightly faster than sound.

point 3 : You COULD be entirely correct.

[rboatman]

"Eyewitness:'I didn't hear an explosion at first when I saw the metal fall. I heard an explosion about a minute and a half later,' she said."

"The engine came away before the explosion"

How far away was the "witness"?

Speed of sound vs speed of light issue.....

[WL-law]

Light travels faster than sound, don't ya know.

[ImProudToBeAnAmerican]

Sound travels faster than light...

[Kate_Malloy]

A minute and a half later seems to me that the plane would have crashed by then! Planes travel clear out of view in a min. and a half!
As for the sound coming after she witnessed the engine falling, sound travel would have been delayed it. In my mind this account may be skewed somewhat.

[Demidog]

The effects of explosions can sometimes be seen before the sound reaches the witness.

[Salman]

Eyewitness:"I didn't hear an explosion at first when I saw the metal fall. I heard an explosion about a minute and a half later," she said.

The engine came away before the explosion

How far away was the eyewitness? Light travels faster than sound.

• Speed of light: Approximately instantaneous.
• Speed of sound: Approximately 760mph at 55 degrees F = 12 1/3 miles per minute
  (depends on temperature, slower if colder).

So that if the eyewitness was 12 1/3 * 1.5 = 19 miles away, this is consistent with the explosion happening when the engine fell off. Call it 20 miles, and the explosion could have happened a bit before.

[thunderdome]

Light travels much faster than sound....the scene would be - the engine comes off, then you hear an explosion after a delay based on your distance from the jet.

[antivenom]

Sound has an intersting way when it travels....

[Cannon6]

Sound travels at about 400 feet per second.