Can't somebody PLEASE vote hoppy off this island?



If engines fail, due to ice buildup or fuel exhaustion or volcanic ash, airplanes don't crash, stall, self-destruct or disintegrate.

They simply turn into gliders.

For examples, see:

Boeing 767 Gimli Glider

Boeing 747 Volcanic Ash

Airbus 330 (gulp) over the Atlantic

There are other examples, you can use Google to locate them.

I think what happened here was a catastrophic event on board that airplane that didn't leave the crew much, if any, time to react. And it's aviate, navigate, communicate, so talking comes last. My guess is that they attempted to dodge some major thunderstorm cells and two cells converged on them, chewed up the plane and spit it out in pieces. The highly detailed analysis of Tim Vasquez (I think somebody referenced it earlier) outlines this and other scenarios:

http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/af447/



May their souls rest in peace.