[tcrlaf]

No Mayday, reports about the crew calling in a "Technical fault" are apparently false. Sudden and catastrophic failure.

[BenLurkin]

Metal fatigue?

[null and void]

Right now, smart money is on the tail blowing off.

Whether from mechanical failure due to a poorly repaired tail strike and metal fatigue, or a bomb remains an open question.

[SkyDancer]

Too many cycles (a cycle is one take off and one landing)? Weak air frame gave in from too many pressurization’s? Most airlines retire planes that have above 90,000 cycles or more.

[Sooth2222]

So maybe there are now only 399 surface-to-air missiles missing from Benghazi?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I think Sandy Burger has already concluded that it was a spark in a fully loaded fuel tank.

[FrankR]

Probably the dreaded “center fuel tank” scenario...just sayin’.

[RayChuang88]

I'd serious consider this possibility:

This is the Russian 9K33 Osa, often known by the NATO code name SA-8 Gecko. Many such mobile SAM systems were sold to Arab client states from the Soviet Union during the 1970's and 1980's, and the possibility of ISIS/ISIL-allied insurgents jury-rigging a 9K33 system to shoot down a jet airliner flying at cruising altitude is not completely far-fetched, since the 9K33 system can engage an airplene cruising at up to 12,000 meters (39,000 feet) altitude. Indeed, one really wonders did Islamic terrorists manage to quietly bring to the USA components of a 9K33 system, put it on a pleasure boat, and launch one to shoot down TWA Flight 800--something well with the capability of this SAM system.

[umgud]

Ya’all remember the Hawaiian Air plane that actually landed with much of its roof off? Looked like a convertible.

Of course, this could be a center fuel tank explosion.

[Snickering Hound]

Clock...

[JLAGRAYFOX]

The only way the tail could come apart is if the aft fuselage pressure bulkhead failed.....and I doubt that is what happened. IMHO, this aircraft was destroyed by a bomb planted on the aircraft prior to departure with an internal timer, or a remote timer that set off the blast at high altitude, blew out the rear pressure bulkhead, and destroyed the airplane. However....I personally believe...we will never get to know what really happened.

This was not a Russian aircraft. it was an AirBus A321, owned by an Irish Aircraft Leasing company. The terms of an aircraft lease always demand that the lease operator (airline) maintain the aircraft to the owner’s standards of airworthiness!!! This was not an aircraft maintenance problem!!! IMHO.....our world has gone mad!!! The Russians already know what happened and so does the the USA.....but....we will never hear the truth about it!!!

[PghBaldy]

Too many differences, so just a coincidence I am sure, but 31 Oct 1999 was the date the crazed Egyptian muslim pilot crashed Egyptair Flight 990 into the sea.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Hey that reminds me, were the pilots of 8501 Muslim? What about 9525?

I know in the case of the Germanwings plane I heard his girlfriend dumped him but not much else.

[PghBaldy]

Considering Russia’s people or allies shot down a plane last year, there are many people who would have wanted to do this. I would not be shocked if it was a bomb, but the implications for the world would be concerning.

[Yaelle]

Sometimes when you press the volume and the live tv channel on your seat back monitor at the same time, it causes the fuselage to crumble.

[PA Engineer]

Ping

[sitetest]

I guess this makes reports of a Russian retaliatory nuclear strike on ISIS less credible.