Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
Still curious about the lack of explosion and fire.
I don't have an official answer, but if I may speculate:
The airplane hit with enough force to pulverize the entire aircraft structure. I don't see a wing or wheel or anything recognizable in the post-crash video. I imagine there wasn't a big spill or puddle of fuel, there was just a cloud of fuel vapor that burst from the debris and floated away.
Also, judging by the weather conditions in the videos (also notice how the race flags were horizontal and wind noise chokes out the announcer in the audio) the cloud would have dissapated in seconds.
Assuming there was nobody smoking when the tanks first disintigrated, and no severed electrical wiring (lights, sound system) in the impact zone, there would be no source for ignition.