Accella- you're right about the missile's range- no need to be within MILES of the airliner if they were using a missile and had orders to take it down.

In this situation, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some 20 mm from a gun shot taking out an engine- visual confirmation of the plane, its tail number and ascertainment of who was in the pilots chair could be done in the air of course, and you'd want to be sure you had the right plane. Then again, 3 planes had already crashed at that point, so maybe no one was going to take any chances and instead rely on technology to identify the plane, so a missile could certainly have been launched from beyond vfr contact.

If it was a missile shot, it likely locked on to the heat signature of one of the engines. First, the engine would be blown to bits. There would be numerous secondary explosions, due to the fuel in the wings igniting. After the wings are gone, and the fuselage likely broken into pieces, the aircraft loses most of its aerodynamic properties:
no more wings= no more lift
no more tail means no more stabilator or rudder and no ability to steer

Pitch is also gone and the only thing you're left with is drag, which would start to make the remains of the aircraft veer off in the directions the explosion blew them and quickly lose altitude.

JV

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JV

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know...it's what we know for sure that just ain't so