Quote Originally Posted by Aloha_Shooter View Post
I think def90's point is that planes can disappear without a mayday. Destructive reactions can build up without the pilot's notice -- and the pilot himself may be unable to cope with the event to the point of not issuing a mayday. You can build the strongest airframe in the world with the best autopilot software but a bad pilot can make it all irrelevant.

I am puzzled by the lack of a debris trail. It implies whatever happened not only went down fast but maintained most of the structural integrity of the aircraft (of course, the stronger airframes made by Boeing made be an element of this but recall TWA 800 had a pretty significant debris trail).
You are right it is puzzling too. Wings part and rudder component should be found floating since they are mostly honeycomb composites.
And about the stronger frame claim, lets not forget that the fuselage of the A330 lost in the southern atlantic was found partly intact
"
Within a week of resuming of the search operation, on 3 April 2011, a team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution operating full ocean depth autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) owned by the Waitt Institute discovered, by means of sidescan sonar, a large portion of debris field from flight AF447.[119]Further debris and bodies, still trapped in the partly intact remains of the aircraft's fuselage, were located in water depths of between 3,800 to 4,000 metres (2,100 to 2,200 fathoms; 12,500 to 13,100 ft) รข€‹"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447