We saw the front portions of the plane (both in the pilot episode, and the episode where Sawyer and Kate go swimming) had landed on the island.
We have not yet found the rear of the plane.
Many of us assume that passengers of the tail section are still alive.
Mild spoiler about Season 2:
And much evidence in the season 2 casting supports this assumption.
But I wanted a few of our resident engineer/physicist/experts to talk this through:
Is there any logical way that the tail end of the plane is on that island? Ignoring the potential for paranormal explanations.
We’ve seen about how wide the island must be (CFL’s cloud of smoke kind of framed the island). It is a substantial island, but not terribly big.
So, if the plane was going at average cruising speed when the tail section blew off, and the main cabin continued on for a few moments under the power of the jets (It did. That’s why it looked like the tail section was going backwards, and recall the still operational jet engine on the beach), and then began to descend, wouldn’t it have landed pretty far from where ever the tail section landed. Could it be on the island at all? How long would it take a jet cruising at that speed to cross over a large island? Not that the tail section immediately begins traveling at zero MPH, but the decelleration begins pretty quickly.
Wouldn’t the tail section be in the water or on some other island?
Remember also- the middle of the plane was on the beach. The nose of the plane was inland. Does that also indicate that the tail should be out to sea? Or would the wings/engine section keep flying past the nose?
