Posted on 06/03/2009 8:46:46 PM PDT by fortress
Nope. It's Bush's fault and Michael Moore is making a movie to prove it.
AIRBUS inc. would be better off if it was a bomb.
I think you are right it seems to have taken minutes for the plane to fail.
Of course it is also possible that a bomb exploded that was just big enough to cause a structural failure.
As a guy who spent 20 as a ground-pounder, I'm certainly no expert in aviation, especially big planes. But, I do remember when they were fishing TWA 800 wreckage out of the LI Sound, there was a considerable fuel slick within the debris field, FWIW.
TWA 800 wasn't brought down by explosives, but there was definitely a catastrophic explosion.
A small bomb against the skin of the plane at high altitude would cause a rapid depressurization. In effect the plane would explode but not directly as a result of the bomb. In other words the bomb would simply act as the trigger.
Unless the bomb were close to a fuel cell it would not necessarily cause a fuel explosion. The Lockerbie disaster, for example, was made far worse for folks on the ground because tons of aviation fuel fell, caught fire on the ground and burned much of the town.
“Horribly insensitive comment IMHO”
I’m curious as to why you consider it insensitive?
I’m not an expert but see my post #45.
“Additionally, at least two (2) other planes on similar routes went through this area within a “close” time frame and completed their destinations.”
Means nothing, the average age of a thunderstorm from formation to extinction is 20 minutes.
Every pilot in their instrument training is taught to never enter a thunderstorm but to skirt them by 10 miles if possible.
Even Navy fighter jets are forbidden from entering a thunderstorm.
I think you make a great point about preferring metal over plastic, regardless how advance the plastic is. But, in point of fact, I believe that it was the metal bolts that affixed the tail to the fuselage that actually failed, not the composite material itself.
Having said that, I would prefer a fully metal plane over something else.
You need to ask?????
Thanks!
Don't competent investigators rule everything in until they can rule it out? On what evidence do they base their decision?
OTHO, a small explosion, or other event (ie. severe weather conditions) could have caused a structural failure.
Hopefully, though difficult in those climes, they will be able to find either enough wreckage or the black boxes to help figure it out.
It seems they are far too quick to dismiss terrorism IMHO, particularly when there had been threats there in the recent past.
Not that well. They explode in midair.
Per the article, no debris has been picked up yet.
You're absolutely right about evidence of an explosion (or no explosion for that matter) that would be left on the debris. But, as of around 6:00pm EST, no ships had yet reached the debris field and no debris had actually been collected from the sea, only spotted by planes from above.
Didn’t an Airbus crash back East a few years ago, and it was found that the tail just broke off due to “turbulance”?
Yes. I think he was suggesting it was Rag-Head caused... I would agree.
“I’m still puzzled why there wasn’t any mayday call.”
When you are hit by windsheer in a thunderhead you wouldn’t have time to even press the mic button.
I was hit in a very small one that was imbedded in a storm and I was turned upside down instantly without warning.
The thing that really pissed me off was when I told the controler to get me out of these things he responded that I only had 2 more small ones ahead of me.
Problem was he couldn’t vary my flight path or altitude since I was on the transition from El Monte vor to the Seal Beach vor crossing the LAX landing pattern.
Even if the plane had exploded it would take several minutes to reach the sea. If the cockpit were more or less intact and the batteries were ok the radios would continue to send word as various systems failed. The Challenger, for example, transmitted data as it fell to Earth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.