ABSTRACT
The in-flight bombing of a large commercial civil airliner is particularly difficult to investigate. Significant additional complexities and problems are often associated with these types of investigations. Most modern jetliners cruise at high altitudes (i.e. near six statute miles) and at high speeds (i.e. near Mach 0.85 or approximately 500 knots/575 miles per hour). The destruction of an aircraft of this type in cruise flight can potentially scatter 200 tons of structure, 100 tons of fuel, and 50 tons of cargo and passengers over a wide area. Further, an explosion may be intentionally timed to occur over inhospitable terrain such as over an ocean, desert, or remote forested mountainous region.
