WASHINGTON, D.C. May 2 (DPI) — The 747 cargo jet that crashed on takeoff in Afghanistan may have been the target of sabotage, or it fell victim to a stall because of overloading and thin-air conditions.

Such theories were offered up by hundreds of posters this week, many of whom gave surprisingly informed opinions on a graphic video of the crash, which killed seven Americans. The crash occurred Monday moments after takeoff from Bagram Air Base. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL9BGKLKwYg

Whatever the cause,  posters on washingtonpost.com outlined  various scenarios that could have led to the tragedy.  Many focused on the the jet’s cargo possibly coming loose as the jet climbed at an unusually steep angle, on the chance that the pilot feared ground fire. The steep climb, obvious in the video, led to a classic stall, resulting in the crash moments later, readers pointed out.

But one poster, with a tone of confidence and authority, wrote that he was convinced the pilot had miscalculated the density of the air, and the jet, loaded with heavy vehicles, as a result went into a stall from which it could not recover:

1) This crash occurred due to the aircraft being overweight for the ambient conditions. At high altitude the air is thinner creating poor performance and requiring higher air speeds to generate the lift need to support flight. With high humidity (see all those big heavy clouds, and rain puddles) makes the air even thinner, and with spring time/ early summer higher temps – air even thinner. Then you load the aircraft with lots of fuel to make your destination along with your cargo and you are at the edge of the performance envelope.

Ultimately this crash will go down as pilot error – he didn’t use his density altitude computer correctly. And, for all you arm chair accident investigators out there providing your opinion under the guise of “I”m a pilot,” I’m worried you might actually be a pilot and are mind numbingly unfamiliar with lift basics 101 – DENSITY ALTITUDE (google it). CG shift did not cause this crash… If something big had busted loose into the aft causing angle of attack stall, the plane could have never achieved a nose down attitude at impact (physics 101).

Other comments:

2) Clues from the video cause me to wonder if an engine failure may be to blame. From what I’ve read online, aircraft departing Bagram use an intentionally steep climb profile to avoid small arms fire, likely leaving the aircraft with little airspeed margin should an engine failure occur. In the video, the aircraft banks slightly to the left, as the pilot might do to aid in directional control upon the loss of an engine on the right wing. Soon after, the aircraft begins a yawing rotation to the right, as if driven by asymmetric thrust.

3) This could very well be sabotage, a friendly Afghan ‘helper’ loosening a couple of shackles when the crew’s backs were turned to make a vehicle shift at the rotate phase of takeoff, too late to recover from.