– At 550 degrees C,steel has 60% of its strength.
– Jet fuel combusts at around 410 degrees.
– hydrogen, contained in Jet fuel, burns at 2210 degrees C in air.
– Steel melts at between 1370 and 1500 degrees C, depending on the grade.
Another fact. Aluminium (like the stuff that is used to make aeroplanes) when properly molten (not runny), is incredibly explosive when introduced to water (like the stuff used in sprinklers systems to put out fires).
It takes a lot of heat to make aluminium molten, but a makeshift kiln (made out of plasterboard and other things that are used to build buildings) would do the trick.
This is what a couple of smart folk (a chemist and a metal specialist – not engineers or firemen) reckon caused the explosions and led to the collapse.
The official report forgot to take the aluminium of the planes into account when conducting their testings as the they thought it simply disappeared on impact.
I think there was a prog on c5 last night about it.