[freeperfromnj]

This is a very important story. Why is this the first we are hearing of it?

[TomGuy]

First I've heard this, too.

Reports on the alphabetsoupmedia and print was that the plane "went down." None reported that a missile attack was the cause. They (media) implied accident/mechanical.

If it were shot down with a missile, the media should have been all over this story.

[mhking]

The family killed in the crash was a prominent (and extremely philanthropic) Atlanta family. At least as of this point, there has been no mention of any AQ connection to the tragedy.

I'll make a few calls...

[TBall]

It also promised the Iraqi people the "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band".

[TomGuy]

from News24.com

Kenya denies al-Qaeda claim

27/07/2003 22:56 - (SA)

Nairobi - A Kenyan investigator on Sunday denied a claim attributed to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network that the group was responsible for a plane crash that left 12 Americans and two South Africans dead.

"Those claims are fanciful and incredible," Bongo Woodley, a senior warden with Kenya Wildlife Service, who is a member of a team investigating the accident, said.

"It seems some people are using this painful tragedy to be heard," said Woodley.

The website statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified, said the plane was hit "head on" with a ground-to-air SAM-7 missile fired by followers of Mohammed Atef, the Egyptian national suspected of being bin Laden's number two.

The statement said three CIA agents were on board the plane searching for Mujahedeen positions on the Kenyan border.

Woodley said the plane crash was "a very straight forward and unfortunate accident that happened on a cloudy evening."

"There is no point in starting to spin tales that do not match the facts," he said.

"There are even witnesses who heard and saw the plane ploughing into one of Mount Kenya's peaks," he added.

The website statement also promised the Iraqi people the "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band".

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.

[Hatteras]

This crash was covered extensively here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area where the family was from. They even had a large 'Group' obituary in the Raleigh News & Observer. I'll see if I can locate it.

[Hatteras]

This crash was covered extensively here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area where the family was from. They even had a large 'Group' obituary in the Raleigh News & Observer. I'll see if I can locate it.

[pabianice]

Bullshit. The SA-7 is an IR seeker. It does not hit an aircraft "head-on."

[TomGuy]

from News24.com

Kenya denies al-Qaeda claim

27/07/2003 22:56 - (SA)

Nairobi - A Kenyan investigator on Sunday denied a claim attributed to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network that the group was responsible for a plane crash that left 12 Americans and two South Africans dead.

"Those claims are fanciful and incredible," Bongo Woodley, a senior warden with Kenya Wildlife Service, who is a member of a team investigating the accident, said.

"It seems some people are using this painful tragedy to be heard," said Woodley.

The website statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified, said the plane was hit "head on" with a ground-to-air SAM-7 missile fired by followers of Mohammed Atef, the Egyptian national suspected of being bin Laden's number two.

The statement said three CIA agents were on board the plane searching for Mujahedeen positions on the Kenyan border.

Woodley said the plane crash was "a very straight forward and unfortunate accident that happened on a cloudy evening."

"There is no point in starting to spin tales that do not match the facts," he said.

"There are even witnesses who heard and saw the plane ploughing into one of Mount Kenya's peaks," he added.

The website statement also promised the Iraqi people the "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band".

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.

[Hatteras]

This crash was covered extensively here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area where the family was from. They even had a large 'Group' obituary in the Raleigh News & Observer. I'll see if I can locate it.

[WhiskeyPapa]

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.

Well, now. There's an SA-7 SAM. But it's a shoulder fired heat seeker. It wouldn't hit a plane head on.

Walt

[Al B.]

FYI -- apparently a prominent family with Atlanta and Research Triangle ties.  Dr. George Brumley was former Chief of Pediatrics at Duke Medical Center.  His wife was Liddy Dole's college roommate.  NO MENTION in the articles I've read of terrorism.

From the Durham, NC Morning Herald:  Africa crash kills 12 with area ties

[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.

[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%.

[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.