fuselage

[ fyoo-suh-lahzh, -lij, -zuh-, fyoo-suh-lahzh, -zuh- ]

/ ˈfyu səˌlɑʒ, -lɪdʒ, -zə-, ˌfyu səˈlɑʒ, -zə- /

the complete central structure to which the wing, tail surfaces, and engines are attached on an airplane.

Origin of fuselage

1905–10; < French, equivalent to fusel(é) spindle-shaped (derivative of fuseau spindle; see fusee) + -age -age

Like the wings, the tail surfaces—horizontal and vertical—easily break away from the fuselage and float.

Mysterious Debris Near Australia Looks like MH370’s Wing |Clive Irving |March 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
“Explosive decompression” where the fuselage breaks apart suddenly and catastrophically.

Why Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Must Have Died Instantaneously |Clive Irving |March 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
However, integrity of the fuselage structure is not an absolute guarantee that an explosive decompression will not occur.

Why Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Must Have Died Instantaneously |Clive Irving |March 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Boeing does have one airplane with a long record of stress failures in its fuselage, the 737.

Why Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Must Have Died Instantaneously |Clive Irving |March 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

He hit the fuselage of his F-100 when he ejected, breaking his arm, damaging his eye and injuring his back.

John McCain Pays Tribute to Bud Day |Josh Rogin |July 29, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Agilely Kirkwood swung himself over the side of the fuselage and swarmed down one of the supporting struts to the broad float.

Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. |Percy F. Westerman
The body of the machine was wrecked, and the fuselage a mass of splinters.

The Boy Volunteers with the French Airmen |Kenneth Ward
In order to carry their engines conveniently they very often have more than one fuselage.

The Romance of Aircraft |Lawrence Yard Smith
Something—what it was he was unable to ascertain—hit the fuselage with a resounding crash.

Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. |Percy F. Westerman
A few inches in front of my nose was the breach of a heavy machine-gun whose muzzle projected over the bow of the fuselage.

Over the Front in an Aeroplane and Scenes Inside the French and Flemish Trenches |Ralph Pulitzer

fuselage

/ (ˈfjuːzɪˌlɑːʒ) /

the main body of an aircraft, excluding the wings, tailplane, and fin

C20: from French, from fuseler to shape like a spindle, from Old French fusel spindle; see fusee