Passenger jet’s nose cone cave-in remains a mystery

What caused the nose cone on a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757 to collapse mid flight? (For the best shot of the damage, check out coverage at CNN of the incident. Week’s after the incident, there’s still no word from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The FAA ruled out a collision with a bird. One reason, the damage occurred at an altitude “higher than most birds generally fly,” one expert explained to the New York Times.

It may have been lightning. In February, the nose cone of another plane was “severely damaged” by a lightning strike. But you’d think the pilots would have seen that, wouldn’t you?

Maybe it was some other weather phenomena? Maybe it was something falling from space. Pound360 will continue to cover this.