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

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.