Jobst Brandt's opinion (my bolding of the text):

>After a few minutes I discovered a crack about 75% through the top
> of the right fork blade starting at the back of the blade (to
> separate the crack would have hinged the wheel forward).

> I rode home on egg shells but made it home in one piece. A crash
> would seem unavoidable if the crack had gone the rest of the way
> through and I often ignore creaks. Has anyone here ridden a broken
> fork until it separated? Did it cause a crash?

Most people choose not to ride on one fork blade and find some other
way to reach home. Yes, this is the classic fork failure and I have
experienced them. The only difference is that I was in the mountains
in both occasions and noticed the loss of control. Fortunately,
applying the brakes stabilizes the condition by closing the gap so the
fork becomes rigid again until stopped.

The important point is that forks break forward from vertical road
vibration induced fatigue, not backward, the way most people visualize
fork failure. The crack begins at the rear of the fork blade at the
fork crown. Internally lugged (aka sloping fork crown) forks fail
more often than ones with external lugs because the transition inside
the blade of the crown extension cannot be feathered, leaving a sharp
discontinuity.