Posted on 12/14/2006 9:28:35 AM PST by Hal1950
Exactly! And it is so appropriate in cases like this one. Good call.
I am reading it right now as well. Page 300.
It was the first commented on, and the initial missile impact would be more than significant enough to comment on.
How do you know there was not an undetected failure mode earlier? What is your evidence?
Because I've been there and done that with things going "Ka-boom!" around me, some of them down to about one pound of Composition B (hand grenades).
Trust me, one will notice more than a pound of HE going off in contact or close proximity to one's aircraft, even if said aircraft is a 747. That event would have been commented on, most likely with some variation on the theme of "sacred fecal material."
Bump -read tonite.
A great book by a great author.
(You meant Lions Game) :-)
"OK, I am ready for the flames.
TWA Flt 800 was hit by a meteorite."
About 12 or 15 years ago, I was up late, watching the news, when I heard what sounded like a long (and loud) explosion. Lasted several seconds. All I could think was that there was either a massive vehicle wreck, or a building exploding, but neither of them made much sense due to the length of time that the noise persisted. It sounded like a train wreck, but there weren't any trains.
I went outside and looked around. No flames anywhere. I waited for a while, no sirens. It was very weird.
The next day I heard on the news that there was a fireball that was observed by the pilot of an airliner, who watched it as it descended and landed in Lake Michigan. (maybe 150 miles from my location.) A few days later, there was something in the paper about a guy about 25 miles away who had a small piece of it that had broken off and crashed into his house, making a hole in his porch roof.
If the entire mass had landed on the ground, it would likely have caused some major havoc.
About five years ago, I was standing outside my house talking with a friend who was about ready to get into his car to drive back home (he'd driven about a hundred miles to visit us). As we were standing there chatting, we saw a bright flash in the sky, which quickly stretched into what looked like a neon tube hanging in the air. It persisted for maybe 30 seconds. It spooked my friend (who is a bit of a high-strung type), and he quickly got into his car and boogied out. I guess he was scared the aliens were going to come get him. :)
The one we saw (the "neon tube") was silent -- no noise at all. As to the other one -- the one that sounded like a train wreck -- a friend told me that the tenants at his rental house were sitting out on the porch when it happened. They said it lit up the sky, and streaked all the way across it. That must have been one hell of a meteor.
Wasn't there another passenger jet crash shortly after take off from JFK? IIRC, it was 2 months later and had reports of the tail falling off?
Turkush Airlines Flight 981. Explosive failure of a cargo door brought the plane down outside Paris in March 1974. Absolute first (and, so far, last) time for such an event.
American Airlines Flight 191. Engine bolt gave way and loss of engine brought the plane down outside Chicago in May 1979. Absolute first (and, so far, last) time for such an event.
United Flight 232. Catastrophic failure of the number two engine destroyed all hydraulic power causing the plane to crash on landing at Sioux City, Iowa in July 1989. First and last time that happened.
Lauda Air Flight 004. Aircraft tore itself apart over Thailand when the reverse thrusters unexpectedly deployed in flight. First and last time for that, too.
A lot of things happen once. If they don't happen again it's because corrective actions were taken.
"Out of envelope fof a MANPADS, end of discussion."
NTSB says the explosion happened at 13,700 feet.
US Department of State says "MANPADS can strike aircraft flying at altitudes up to approximately 15,000 feet".
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/53558.htm
WTH, it took 9 years to figure that McDermot was "unethical" in getting Newt's phone tapped.
State doesn't know what they're talking about--they can reach a maximum slant range of 15,000 feet, which ends up being about 10,000 feet of altitude in practice.
That was a great book. I love Nelson Demille!
Why would a terrorist group go to this trouble and then keep mum about it?....Suppressed like the Egyptian pilot who dove a plane into the Atlantic?
If the risk of a fuel vapor explosion was as high as the NTSB was saying it was, it should've happened much earlier, even if only on another type of aircraft (say, and old 707). That's my problem with the "fuel tank go boom!" scenario.
That's the other problem with the MANPADS theory; it requires the terrorists to go along with the coverup.
when JFK was shot,I remember every detail of that day from day to night,every detail.
When clinton went on TV that morning after,the look on his face told the story.......I see it in my mind now and will never forget it. It was so obviously a lie.
"Why would a terrorist group go to this trouble and then keep mum about it?"
They didn't. They tried to take credit. But our dear old MSM refused to publish it.
start with defining MANPADS specifically
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