Al-Qaeda 'shot down' plane (3 generations of American family killed July 19th)

South African Press Assoc. ^ | 7/27/03

[discostu]

Ahh it's nice to see the mighty fall. From knocking down buildings with hijacked jets to taking credit for minor crashes in the African desert in 2 short years.

This should be a lesson to everybody that thinks the war on terror isn't going well.

[r9etb]

Kenyan officials said the light aircraft crashed into Mount Kenya amid thick clouds on July 19, and that the 12 Americans killed in the crash were members of the same extended family, including two grandparents.

If one believes that there were thick clouds, then one would have to discount the claim that a heat-seeking SAM-7 missile was responsible.

However, AQ did shoot a SAM-7 missile at an Israeli airliner, in Kenya, last winter. So we can't entirely discount this claim.

[dirtboy]

The statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified, said the plane was hit "head on" with a ground-to-air SAM-7 missile.

It took all of three minutes on Google to check its veracity. Here's some high-level info on SAM-7 missiles.

The Sam 7 Strela-2 portable missile launcher is a one-man shoulder-fired low altitude system.

It can launch a high explosive warhead and has a seeker system that targets the plume of an aircraft engine's exhaust.

It is a tail-chasing missile - one that can only be fired only from behind its target.

Plus, the plane went off-course and crashed into Mt. Kenya - I'm rather curious how terrorists could have anticipated that.

[FReepaholic]

>>...(US President George W) Bush and his band"....<<

These guys are great, man. I've got their latest album.

[dighton]

Balderdash.

If "CIA agents were ... searching for Mujahedeen positions on the Kenyan border," the aircraft, which took off from Nairobi, wouldn't have crashed near a peak of Mt. Kenya.

Here's a brief description of the accident.

[japaneseghost]

..Do you think that the CIA would ever admit this is terrorism if they had their own on board? A family with connections to the CIA?

That would never happen. Just like they will never admit that the downing of TWA 800 was terrorism.

[dirtboy]

However, AQ did shoot a SAM-7 missile at an Israeli airliner, in Kenya, last winter. So we can't entirely discount this claim.

Yes, we can. The website claims that the SAM-7 hit the aircraft head-on - but a SAM-7 is a heatseeker that can only go at an aircraft from the tail. In addition, the plane went off-course and crashed into an inaccessible part of Mt. Kenya - and a SAM-7 doesn't have much range - the terrorist would have had to have known that the aircraft was going to be off-course and somehow climbed up Mt. Kenya and been in perfect position.

[telebob]

Al Qaeda has a new PR director. Easier to just read the papers, find a likely scenario that could be construed as possibly a terrorist strike and take credit. Beats all that heavy lifting and keeps your name out their so the rubes think you've still got it.

When AQ starts taking credit for floods, hurricanes and tornados, we'll know that they've gone to the well once to often.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Having fired a SAM-7 and having vacationed around Mt. Kenya, I would say the chances of being in a position to knock down an airplane, in that area, with that type SAM, approach 0%.

[Redcloak]

It's a mistranslation. The Al Qaeda message actually said that they hit the plane head on with a mountain. I don't know how the silly translator managed to turn "mountain" into "SA-7 missile".

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

However, AQ did shoot a SAM-7 missile at an Israeli airliner, in Kenya, last winter. So we can't entirely discount this claim.

Please note that airliner was just coming off the end of the runway and was at low altitude.

[Hatteras]

Dr. George W. Brumley, 68, raised in St. Marys, Ga. He received his undergraduate and medical school degrees from Duke University, with postgraduate training in pediatrics and neonatology. He served in the Navy as a physician in Newfoundland. Taught at Duke for 19 years and co-directed the Division of Perinatal Medicine. Family moved to Atlanta in 1981, where he became chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University, and later served as interim dean of the medical school. He retired in 1995 and helped start several nonprofit organizations, including the Whitefoord Community Project _ an inner-city, education and health program for children and families, based in Atlanta. He currently was chairman of Project Grad _ a public-private nonprofit effort to support enhanced performance in city public schools.

Jean Stanback Brumley, 67, graduated from Duke University in 1958 and was a mother of five. Her children included: George W. Brumley III, Lois Brumley Morrell, Elizabeth Brumley Love and twins, Marie Brumley Foster and Nancy Brumley. After moving to Atlanta in 1981, she served on the advisory board of Families First. She served for 15 years in various roles with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and currently was serving as a member of the board's executive committee. She was a board member of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and recently had chaired a successful capital campaign at Trinity Presbyterian Church. She and her husband created the Whitefoord Project. She was vice president of their family's Zeist Foundation, a private, family charitable foundation established in 1989.

George W. Brumley III, 42, lived in Chapel Hill, N.C. He received his undergraduate degree from Emory University and his MBA from Duke University. He was chairman and CEO of Oak Value Capital Management, an investment management firm he began with a partner in 1990. He was involved as a board member in several North Carolina environmental organizations and at Durham Academy, where his two children, George William Brumley IV, 14, and Jordan McNeill Brumley, 12, attended school. The children also died in the crash.

Julia Preston Brumley, 42, originally from Chapel Hill. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also attended the Culinary Institute of America and Cordon Bleu.

William Jenkins Love, 41, had lived in London since 1998, working as the director of sales and marketing for the European branch of his family's company, Printpack, which produces packaging for the consumer products industry. He earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a graduate degree from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke. He grew up in Atlanta, where his father, J. Erskine Love Jr., created and developed Printpack. The company operates plants in the United States, Mexico and Britain.

Elizabeth Brumley Love, 41, lived in London with her husband, William, and their four daughters. In 1984, the Loves received their undergraduate degrees from Duke, where they met. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Emory University. Her interests included mental health issues and organizations serving children. The family was planning to return to their Atlanta home later this year. Their daughter Sarah Jennings Love, 12, also died in the crash.

Richard Morrell, 43, was married to George and Jean Brumley's daughter Lois. An Asheville, N.C., native, Morrell moved to Atlanta as an adult. He practiced product liability law for seven years, but left his practice to become a clinical psychologist and board member of Whitefoord. He was to begin full-time clinical work in September and expected to receive his Ph.D. next year.

Lois Brumley Morrell, 39, was a registered nurse who worked in neonatal hospital nurseries until her children were born. She was involved with Hospice Atlanta, which offers end-of-life care. The couple's son Alexander Brumley Morrell, also died in the crash. The couple had left their two younger daughters at home in Atlanta.

Plus the two pilots for a total of 14 dead. Sad.

[discostu]

Pretty soon they're going to start taking credit for car accidents "you know that rear-ender that backed-up traffic on Broadway all morning? TREMBLE IN FEAR YANQUI DOG!"

[r9etb]

Well, AQ has shot at planes with SAM-7's before, so it's true that you can't entirely discount it.

But I certainly agree that it's highly unlikely that they had anything to do with this crash.

[TBall]

It's the threat that bugs me. "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band". I know threats are a daily occurrence, but the very soon threat should be raising eyebrows.

[dirtboy]

It's the threat that bugs me. "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band". I know threats are a daily occurrence, but the very soon threat should be raising eyebrows.

I don't let it bother me in this context. They're clearly lying about having shot down this plane, they were too stupid to do five minutes of research and realize that you do NOT hit a plane head-on with a SAM-7, and we're supposed to take this threat seriously? I imagine a few people in the CIA and FBI are, but this is IMO completely bogus.

[John H K]

Al Qaeda has a new PR director. Easier to just read the papers, find a likely scenario that could be construed as possibly a terrorist strike and take credit. Beats all that heavy lifting and keeps your name out their so the rubes think you've still got it.

Heh...you can substitute "FR" for "papers" in the above and its even more valid.

[dixiechick2000]

"The statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified, said the plane was hit "head on" with a ground-to-air SAM-7 missile."

Maybe this could be true if the plane was flying backwards...

[John H K]

That would never happen. Just like they will never admit that the downing of TWA 800 was terrorism.

Err, wait, weren't they never admitting that the downing of TWA 800 was caused by a Navy missle during an exercise?

Oops, just remembered, I missed that TWA 800 kook conference that changed their theory from a Navy missle to a terrorist missle without explanation on Sept. 12, 2001.

[citizen]

I think this is likely 100% BS