[johnlbevan2]

(Qualifier: I know very little about planes or the background of this case)

If the part found was a last minute patch, I'd guess that the patch wasn't properly attached, so came off in flight; then the plane crashed as a result of losing the patch. Otherwise, what are the chances of that being the only piece found...

[exDM69]

That's the first thought that springs to mind, but not necessarily the case.

Aircraft from that era were quite solid and they did not have a pressurized hull. The Lockheed Electra and other similar aircraft from the same era flew in wartime operations and regularly came back full of holes.

A single window broken cover should not bring an otherwise sound 1930s era aircraft down.

[snowballsteve]

Exactly correct. There is no way a missing window would bring down the plane, especially the back window, unless by some freak accident the patch damaged a control surface on the tail by breaking free. One can think of an almost limitless list of more likely hypotheses.

[davvolun]

To be completely fair, a list such as insulating foam peeling off and striking the wing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia#Final_mi...) or a random bird striking a plane and causing a failure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_strike#Incidents)? I'm not saying it happened, or even that it's likely, I'm saying stranger things have happened.

[51Cards]

Regarding this being the only piece found... if they needed to get parts off the plane for use as tools, this patch would be a good target piece of metal to go for prying free. I still feel the odds are pretty slim but they make an interesting (if sketchy) case. Hopefully something more concrete will come up in future.

[joshdance]

Planes could take a lot of beating and still fly. Grandfather flew a bomber in World War 2 and planes would come back with hundreds of holes. Losing a patch should not have brought down the plane. A modern airline, yes, it could have a much bigger effect. Pressurized hulls, electronic flight systems etc are more fragile.

[Shivetya]

reminds of a HN favorite story, about how the study of bombers links up with work done today

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671172/how-a-story-from-world-w...