I noted this on the daily Beast:
The Daily Beast asked an expert familiar with the Boeing 777 what could be read from just one small but relatively intact control surface like the flaperon.
“It looks like the jet went into the water in a gliding/ditching attitude, because otherwise this wing component would have likely been completely destroyed.”
But we already know (prem report as discussed here) that the plane flew with both its engine shut down (fuel starvation) for a considerable time to asses a glide trajectory.
Clive Irving suppose the fact that the flap was found intact is a sign that the plane went ditching. But you certainly don’t want to ditch a low wing plane with flaps down !
Excerpt of an emergency ditching procedure (power off)
Power-off Ditching:
RADIO–TRANSMIT MAYDAY on 121.5 MHz or any other frequency, if able, giving location and intentions.
WING FLAPS–AS DESIRED (Flaps up recommended).
Flaps induce a nose down attitude, higher sink rate (power off) and water spraying on the flap’s surface will induce a violent rotation upon impact.
An experienced flyer like the Pilot, won’t have made such error (at least supposedly).
EDIT (31st of July):
From CNN
[Trace of damage on the extrados of the flaperon could indicate that the] Flaperon was down as it went into the ocean, some members of Exner’s group wrote in a preliminary assessment after looking at photos and videos of the component.
But the lack of damage to the front makes it more likely the plane was in a high-speed, steep, spiral descent and the part fluttered until it broke off, the group said.
But an aircraft component specialist who spoke to CNN disagreed.
The lack of damage to the front section “tells me that the component could still have likely been back in its original position inside the wing itself,” said Michael Kenney, senior vice president of Universal Asset Management, which provides plane components to airlines.
Source:
http://www.pilotfriend.com
CNN.com
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