(November 2, 2015 at 7:53 pm)Chuck Wrote: Perhaps the rear pressure bulkhead at the aft end of the passenger cabin blew out.
This aircraft sustained major damage by striking its tail on the runway during a landing early in its life. This could well have damaged the rear pressure bulkhead. If the repair was not properly conducted, the bulkhead may well fail after a number of pressure cycles. If that bulkhead blows out in flight, it could severe the plane's tail, or at least compromise all the control wiring to the plane's empennage.
This same sequence of events downed JAL 123 in 1985, including the tail-strike (which was followed up with a shoddy repair).
