Posted on 12/24/2014 12:57:20 PM PST by traumer
The Jordanian plane that crashed in Syria was not shot down by Islamic State (IS) militants, the US says.
The plane was lost in IS territory on Wednesday morning, and the pilot has been captured.
IS militants said that they shot down the plane with a heat-seeking missile. However, the US says "evidence clearly indicates" that this is not true.
Jordan is one of four Arab states in a US-led coalition that has launched air strikes on IS targets in Syria.
The plane is the first coalition aircraft to be lost on IS territory since air strikes began in September.
IS fighters have published photographs showing the pilot being captured. They named the pilot as Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh.
In a statement, the US Central Command said it strongly condemned the actions of IS, and confirmed the group "has taken captive the downed pilot".
It did not say what could have caused the plane to crash
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
John McCain, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.
“John McCain, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
That was my first thought too. Jordan is actually a friendly country with us and this pilot is literally going to LOSE HIS HEAD thanks to McCain’s antics.
I’ll never get over Macho Grande.
BULLPUCKEY the Islamic State did not shoot down that jet.
Anyone wonder what happened to all the MANPADS that went missing when Gadaffi was toppled by ISIS and all the “heavy weapons” smuggled out of the Benghazi Consulate to ISIS fighters in Syria on Obama’s orders?????
I’ve been to a few Jordanian AF bases. If it were shot down, it’s the result of our not having provided current level counter-measures which upgraded US flown F-16’s have. My first estimate is a mechanical system failure,(these are not new aircraft). Defection would be the last, however, I know the family name and it would be remote. We’ll see.
Love it...what the meaning of IS IS!
None that I can see!
LOLOL :DD
I beg to differ, out pilots are gaining valuable combat experience that can't be replicated on a bombing range in Nevada.
We are expending tons of old, rusty and out dated ordnance and exterminating scores of jihadis at the same time.
You cant buy better target acquisition training. Plus its just fun.
They say that for every jihadi we kill 2 more take his place. I say good, keep coming, your virgins await you.
As far as having any real effect on the ground I agree with you, but perhaps that's not the point. If every wack job lunatic in the world want's to line up in the sights of the USAF in a combat zone then we should be happy to accommodate them on their journey to hell.
Mechanical failure?
Now all of that I agree with!
Never waste a good opportunity to have some completely justified fun...
I believe the pilot ejected went over to the enemy. Word out the Jordanians were dropping bomb in the desert not on targets.
Ummm..just interjecting here...but maybe the Syrians shot him down, and the Troglodytes just got to him first?
"I'll sock it to ya, Daddy!"
I won’t disagree on the entertainment value Islamic State targets must be having on our combat pilots. But the real fun comes in eliminating them from God’s earth at eye level. Not just a percentage, not hoping to cripple their infrastructure, not discouraging a few, not convincing the public that “we’re doing everything we can”. No, I want to see their charred bodies on CNN. I want to see their cities freed, their terrorized victims no longer terrorized. But the will does not exist.
So what did we claim? Accident?
Troglodytes
The jet was an F-16; lose your single engine and it assumes the aerodynamic capabilities of a wet brick.
When I was at Kunsan back in the early 90s, we had a pilot dead-stick it in from about 30 miles out after an engine failure. As I recall, he was above 30,000 feet when the engine died. Guessing the Jordanian pilot was at/slightly below 20K—far less room to glide and maneuver to a safer bailout location.
Also, that assumes the engine failure didn’t rupture a fuel line and start a fire. When that happens, you pull the handle and get out—regardless of where you are.
No mention of SAR assets in the account. With Turkey refusing to allow use of its airspace to strike ISIS, we can’t put HH-60s, A-10s and HC-130s in position to rescue downed aircrew. When that pilot went down, he was probably on his own.
Won’t be the last pilot who’ll go down in bad guy land in the fight against ISIS. But if we’re sending them into harm’s way without CSAR support, it’s criminal.
I'm withholding my opinion until someone who's not a terrorist chimes in with an opinion on the matter.
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