[DB]

It would have to have a large plume if they are going to go 14,000 feet up... That is suppose to be out of range for a stinger. Also, stingers are heat seekers. The stinger would go for an engine not the center of the plane.

At a 2000 miles an hour it would take 5 seconds to fly up and hit the plane. Count off 5 seconds, it is quite awhile.

[coloradan]

It would have to have a large plume if they are going to go 14,000 feet up... That is suppose to be out of range for a stinger.

It's out of range for a stinger attacking a fast, agile fighter - NOT out of range for one attacking a slow, lumbering, straight-line path 747.

Also, stingers are heat seekers. The stinger would go for an engine not the center of the plane.

Apparently there are also A/C heat exchangers on the belly of 747s, making them quite warm. However, I do not believe that the attack was necessarily a stinger - it could have been any type of missile, including radar guided that would have gone for the conrner-cube like metal making up the wing root.

At a 2000 miles an hour it would take 5 seconds to fly up and hit the plane. Count off 5 seconds, it is quite awhile.

The stinger burn is said to be 6 seconds, and this time is comparable to what some of the witnesses reported.