I seem to remember a few months after the Challenger exploded, a report came out saying that the crew compartment remained intact and fell into the water. Supposedly the crew survived the explosion, and there was evidence that they were able to activate their personal breathing devices after the explosion. Unfortuneately, they died on impact when the crew compartment hit the water.
It sent chills down my spine when I read it, wondering what was going thru their minds during the fall. I'd bet they were doing what their training told them to do as they probably didn't know exactly what was going on.
Both shuttle disasters were a sad time

, although I'm not sorry to see the shuttles retired in 2010.