[rcecale]

while I was in the Corps, I was assigned to the Emergency Reclamation Team for my squadron. If/whenever one of our jets went down, we were the ones to go out and flag, identify and collect "parts" and assist the investigators who were assigned to determine the cause of the accident.

On one such occasion, we had an F/A-18 it the ground at about a 60 degree angle, doing well over 600 knots. It wasn't pretty.

Parts were strewn in a pie shaped wedge, expanding out from the impact point. Some which were found over a quarter mile away. The largest piece we found was one of the barrels from the 50 caliber Vulcan Machine Gun. It was twisted up, but we were still able to identify what it was.

Granted, a large portion of the aircraft surface and flight controls were made of aluminum frame with graphite epoxy skin, but there are several sections which are all metal and very stout, such as the landing gear components. The plane virtually disintegrated upon impact.

Not having worked on a 757, I can only make a guess, but that guess would be along the same lines as what happened above. Jut my own humble opinion.

Randy