In another thread, we are discussing the events of 9/11/2001, and what options an F-16 pilot would have, if it became sadly necessary to force a 757 to crash. It is presumed the F-16 does not have normal armaments; no cannon nor missiles.
How could the F-16 cause critical problems for the 757 simply by flying quite near it, including supersonic?
Spitballing some examples of what might be answers: using supersonic turbulence to cause one wing to stall; crossing the engine's airstream and causing a flame-out somehow; a supersonic near-pass physically damaging the airframe.
And we should presume we have a very low-hour Cessna student pilot, not an experienced commercial pilot who trains for problems. An upset that a competent pilot could recover from is fatal if the student pilot has no idea how to recover from it, or would tend to do the wrong thing.
