AirAsia QZ8501
 

I notice that the underwater photos published in today's papers show both wings still attached to the fuselage and flaps partially extended. The tail was found 3km from the rest of the fuselage.

Although there has been speculation about a mid air explosion, it looks to me more like an unsuccessful attempt at an emergency ocean landing, probably due to wave size.

Of course the CVR/FDR will reveal much more shortly but the physical evidence is certainly significant.

Rudder Travel Limiter failed 23 times!
 

From today's Straits Times

Partially extended flaps could suggest an attempt at stall recovery as well. It's part of the memory items for stall recovery. If it was an attempted ocean landing, then I don't see why the tail would have been so far from the rest of the aircraft.

Mick

Hindsight ...
 

Yes - my 15 January speculation was off the mark somewhat, although given the findings released yesterday, it's perplexing that the plane remained so intact from a high altitude stall and a death roll. :confused:

I found this part of the report disturbing ...

"the system that regulates the plane's rudder movement kept malfunctioning because of a cracked solder joint.Aircraft maintenance records found it had malfunctioned 23 times in the year before the crash, and the interval between those incidents became shorter in the three months prior to the crash, Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee said in a report."