[sinkspur]

I say we blame it on Osama until proven otherwise.

What if it's pilot error or maintenance negligence?

You might feel good blaming bin Laden; I want to know what really caused it.

Conspiracy pinheads are less believeable than the government in this case.

[calebcar]

I don't have the expertise to have an opinion. Intuitively I'd suspect sabatage until proven otherwise. I have a knowledgable pilot friend who says sabatage. There seems a curious rush to judgement. Given the high stakes involved what reason would the gov't have to cover up. Not causing fear in the populous doesnt seem enough motive vs the loss of credibility if proven wrong. I don't get it. Any ideas?

[Smogger]

You might feel good blaming bin Laden; I want to know what really caused it.

I fail to see what harm of blaming Bin Laden would be. Espescially why we are determine the exact cause. We could redouble are airport security efforts and our efforts to hunt him down and kill him. In addition we will make an object lesson out of him. And the lesson is this: Once you declare that you are an enemy of the United States you better hope that no inexplicable evils befall the US or you will be blamed and retaliation inflicted.

And if we find out it was an accident then we can take steps accordingly.

[NixNatAVanG InDaBurgh]

Okay, sinkspur, the cockpit recorder is just a-ok. Ahhh, but the elusive *blackbox* is damaged beyond the NTSB's capability to decipher. Off to the manufacturer and fix it the way it should be. Haven't we just had all that? Every single time they have tried to explain this thing away, they make it more mysterious. Is this helping the American people, or who?
Now if they come back, after examining the stabilizer bars on every airbus and there aren't any problems, what's the next *probably* that they will float on the already polluted wind?
They started out with minutes and have ended, so far, with seconds. It looks to me like they are setting the air traffic controllers up to take the fall.